Surprise Drive
by DiscontentCat
Summary: A lively, energetic panthress is suddenly driven into a perilous situation that she is by no means qualified to handle. With no clear exit, she must gear up and face the dangers and obstacles coming her way. Will she manage to make it to the finish line in one piece, or will she crash and burn under the pressure? (Contains fantasy violence)
1. Prologue

Obligatory Disclaimer: _This story is a fan-based fiction. Any and all publicly recognizable characters and concepts belong to their respective creators. Please don't sue the furry._

* * *

Joy. Pure joy. It was all he could feel at the moment. Pure joy and pure bliss. It felt heavenly and made him smile. It made him feel as though life couldn't get any better. There was a skip to his steps as he walked along the path between the scraps of broken car parts and the trees of the forest. As his hand trailed along the fence dividing the two boundaries, he admired the way light shimmered off of his scarlet red exterior. How long ago had it been since he had went through his change? It felt as though it had been decades since he had walked around in his dull skeleton of a body.

He had no fond memories of that body. Ever since having it, people ran away just at the sight of him. His appearance _frightened_ them. How could he blame them? His old body was sharp, jagged, and uninviting. No one wanted to be friends with someone like that. Things had changed though with his new body. There were no jagged edges to be found on him, as his body was covered in a smooth exoskeleton. It was no longer the dull gray color that he despised to look back upon. There was no trace of that color anywhere on his new body. Instead, it was covered in red, the color of passion, courage, and best of all, love.

Thus, Heart was the name he chose for himself. It was fitting to someone like him. After all, the heart was well known for its association with love, and love was an emotion that he was _full_ of. He loved many things. He loved the way the sun's rays reached through the trees of the forest to touch upon the ground. He loved watching all of the birds and deer go about their business. He loved listening to the sounds of the wilderness as he walked down whichever path he chose to take. But most of all, he loved each and every friend he had made over his life.

Ah, friends. Just the thought of them brought his mind to bliss. He had made plenty of them thus far. In fact, they were fifty heads strong by now. So many friends. So much more than he could ever ask for. Yet what made him shiver in delight was the fact that there were more to come. Yes, he truly loved the friends he had made, but the only thing he loved more was making _new_ friends. With old friends, he could go on and on about his day and fresh, new events. With _new_ friends, he could start from the very beginning. He could tell them about the things he likes, the things he enjoys doing, as well as learn about what _they_ like and what _they_ enjoy doing. It was like starting all over, but instead of having the same amount of friends, he got _more_. And best of all, he could tell them about all the wonders of his Paradise!

Excitement rushed through his body as soon as he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps, accompanied by the sounds of struggle. His new friend had finally arrived!

All of his previous thoughts went forgotten as he turned around to greet his companions. Three figures were making their way up the hill that he stood upon. Two of them possessed the type of body that Heart himself once had. Dull, grey, metallic bits covered every inch of their being, with the only exceptions being the numbered plates melded into their chests and the skull-like encasing over their faces. Whilst one had ear-like frills on its head, the other had mandibles coming out of its face. Both were holding onto someone with no metal of which to speak, a panicked fur who was screaming and struggling against the grip of Heart's friends.

This was always the hardest part; new friends _always_ struggled. He knew why; the jagged exteriors of his old body always scared away the unfamiliar. But he knew it wouldn't last. Every new friend he had made always changed in the end. They were always more loving and happy afterwards. Always grateful and always smiling. He just had to do the same with _this_ one.

"We've brought you our newest friend, Heart," said the friend with "013" etched into its plate. Heart felt ready to burst from delight as he approached the trio.

"VERY good! _Very_ good," he laughed with his arms spread wide. His new friend screamed louder and struggled more vigorously as she laid her eyes upon him. Heart did not waver as he went on; he knew he had to be patient with new friends.

"Please, no need to be _afraid_. I assure you that we mean _no harm_. We just want to make you our _friend_... These two that brought you here are _my_ friends, and very soon, they will become _your_ friends as well!" Heart's new friend all but ceased in her struggles, having tired herself out from doing so for so long. She began to sob uncontrollably and kept her gaze glued to the ground. Feeling pity for her, Heart knelt down to her level and cupped her muzzle in his hand. " _Ohhhh_ , no need to be _sad_. In fact, you'll _never cry again_ once you become my friend. Just ask 13 and 25. They were sad like _you_ before I made them my friends, and they've never been _happier_!"

"It's true!" said 25, "I don't even remember what it _felt_ like to be sad! We've been _so_ happy ever since we became friends!" The new friend suddenly wailed out and tried to struggle away again. With a heavy sigh, Heart stood up and shook his head.

"You won't have to fear anything any longer, friend!" he proclaimed, "Because soon, I will introduce you to our PARADISE! And _in_ our Paradise, you _never_ have to fear anything, feel _sorrow_ over anything, or even worry over _death_! In our Paradise, you can live happily with your friends forever and ever!"

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" the new friend screamed, "IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!" Heart smiled and looked to the sky. This was the last they would ever hear of her pain and sorrow. Now it was time to make her his friend...


	2. Part 1

She was in absolute agony. She felt trapped. She could feel chains shackled around her ankles to keep her from escaping. She couldn't move. Every second she sat there felt like an eternity. She had no clue when she'd be allowed to leave, but she knew that it wouldn't be any time soon. She fought down the urge to groan; she knew that letting one out would result in dire consequences. She squirmed where she sat and breathed heavily through her nose. She couldn't take this for much longer. It was just so...so...

Boring.

She glanced up at the clock overhead. 3 hours. 3 more _friggin_ hours was how much longer she had to spend here until she was allowed to leave. The panther drummed her fingers atop her desk in an agitated fashion and glared at the phone sitting in front of her. It was because of _this_ thing that she was stuck here. She shuffled uncomfortably in her seat again. Good _lord_ did she hate this uniform. What she hated _more_ about it was that she had to wear it despite not being on the actual police force!

Her eyes drifted over to the police officers walking by out of sheer boredom. She almost felt as though they were walking past her just to _spite_ her. Like they were rubbing the excitement of their job in her face. With a scowl, she glanced back up at the clock. Nope. Still 3 hours left. Her attempt at time travel had failed. Good. _Great_. FANTASTIC.

She leaned back on her chair and stretched her arms out, letting out satisfied sighs as she felt her back pop here and there. "No slacking on the job, Miss Attah," called a voice from afar.

"I'm just _stretching_ -s-UH-s-Sir..." She sat right back up as soon as she realized that the voice had belonged to her boss. "Ahem, I'll...I'll stay up now, sir." Only when she saw him slide back into his desk did she relax again. Jady hated this job. She really did. No kid in their right minds ever pictured themselves being a police records technician when they grew up. The only reason she had applied for this job was because she had thought that she could slowly rise up in the ranks and _work_ her way up to becoming a police officer. It was how it worked in all of those family movies and such!

But no, evidently that wasn't how it worked. Now she was stuck here waiting for the clock to count down to her release time. The irony of this place feeling like a prison didn't get past her. Now she _craved_ her freedom like any inmate would.

She jolted up in her seat as the phone on her desk began to ring. After straightening herself out and sliding some papers closer to her, she cleared her throat and picked up the phone. "Calvert City Police Department. What's your emergency?"

"Hi, yes, I need you to send in your best men."

"Okay sir. Do you need an ambulance, fire or police?"

"Police please. I-HEY!"

Jady's heart rate began to pick up. Wait...was something actually _happening_ today? "Sir, is everything alright?" She heard more shouting in the background.

"No get AWAY! Get AWAY!" Not hearing a response, Jady turned to her computer and got to work on tracing the call. While she waited for the computer to do its thing, she rapidly tapped a buzzer on her desk and waved her paw over her head. "No! Get away from there! NO-" The harsh sound of something shattering filled Jady's ears. "AWWW, _look_ at what you've done!"

Jady stopped buzzing.

"Do you realize how much that costs?! It's worth more than _you_! And now you've gone and _broken_ it!"

"Hey, it's not that bad. I think I can fix it. I just need some glue and-"

"FORGET IT! Hello? Are you still there?"

Jady shook her head. "Y-yes, I'm still here, sir."

"Good. Like I said, I need you to send me your best men. I've got some weird homeless guy stepping onto my property and _breaking_ things. I've been trying to get him to leave, but he _refuses_ to budge. You've _gotta_ get him out of here."

Jady let out a disappointed sigh, not particularly caring over the fact that the caller had probably heard it. "Alright sir, I just need your address and-" Jady glanced back at her computer to see that it had finished tracing the call and was now displaying the address. "Never mind. I just need your name as well as the names of everyone involved, and we'll send someone your way."

" _Thank you_. My name is..." Jady more or less zoned out by then and let herself go into autopilot. It was like this _every friggin day_. Literally every call she had ever received was over something mundane and unexciting. It was never over anything thrilling, like a break in or a fire. Not a day went by where she wouldn't be listening to someone complain over something miniscule for 5 minutes at the least. If it wasn't from a call, it was from one of her co-workers. Sometimes, if it was a _special_ day, it'd come from her _boss_ , and usually about something that _she_ was doing wrong.

"Okay, I'm sending someone over now. Just try to keep your space from this man until the officer arrives. Ok? Bye." She closed her eyes and let out a _loooong_ sigh as she hung up the phone. She drummed her paws on her thigh and slowly sunk into her seat. Another day saved thanks to...her. Yep...that sounded right.

" _Ahem_." _That_ , however, _didn't_ sound right. Swiveling an ear around, Jady sat up slightly and leaned to the side. Hidden just behind her computer, there were a handful of cops just standing at her desk, each with a rather impatient look on their faces. And oh good, her boss was among them.

"...Heheh..." she laughed sheepishly, "...oooOOOOHhh _look_ , it's about time for my _break_. I'll uh...I'll catch you champs in a little bit-"

"You're not going anywhere, Attah."

"Yeah, I didn't think so..."

* * *

Off in a park not too far from Jady's police department, a large get-together was underway. With their parents all talking amongst one another at the park's tables, a cluster of kids was running around with a seemingly endless amount of energy. With everyone distracted by one another and with the kids fairly far away from them, no one really noticed as they disappeared deeper into the park. "Can't _catch_ me!" shouted one of them as he ran from the other kids at full speed. One of them stopped to catch her breath as the rest chased after the taunting child. She crouched down a little to prop her paws up against her knees and tried to steady her breathing.

"Hello there, friend." No further warning was given as the child was yanked away by the shoulder and disappeared into the nearby bushes. The shriek she let out as she was taken away reached the ears of the other kids and their chase game was brought to an abrupt halt.

"Emma?" called one of the children. After a minute of not getting anything in response, he made his way over to where he had heard the shriek come from. "Emmaaaa!" he called again with his paws cupped around his muzzle. He scanned the forest left and right in search of his friend, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He took one more step forward and suddenly a mechanical arm shot out and grabbed his wrist. The boy shrieked and managed to slip free, but before he or any of the other children could run, a shockwave swept through the area. After it passed, the kids felt as though they were 4 times as heavy as they once were. When they tried to move, they felt like their limbs were moving through thick sludge, slowing their movements to a near stop. As they struggled to figure out what was happening to them, the mechanical being stepped out of its hiding spot to reveal itself to them. Their shrill, horrified screams echoed through the park as it lunged for them all one by one.

* * *

Jady grumbled to herself as she furiously typed away at her computer. Rather than taking her break, she was spending the remainder of her time here copying written reports into the database. Judging by the fact that there was still currently a large stack of papers left on her desk, she wouldn't be done for a _while_. She had to fight the urge to snarl as she heard her phone ring. She breathed in deeply through her nostrils before answering the call. " _Calvert City_ Police Department. What's your emergency?" She barely had it in her to make her voice not sound so dead-pan.

"Y-yes, hello, I...I'm sorry, h-hold on," the caller's voice was trembling. It sounded as though she was on the verge of tears. Jady rolled her eyes. She'd probably just been insulted by someone and was trying to get the insulter arrested for "obstructing the peace." It wouldn't have been the first time it had happened to Jady. "I-I'd like to report a missing persons case. Our...o-our children are missing." Jady raised an ear tip. That was...less petty... Maybe she was overreacting though. Kids ran away all the time, after all, and they tended to come back within a couple of hours.

Regardless, Jady took on a more serious tone as she replied, "...Alright, ma'am. Can I get your name, please?"

"L-Lia."

"Okay Lia, we're sending an officer to your location. Can you give me your _specific location_ so that our officer knows where to find you?"

"Y-yes, of course," Lia had to pause as she shuddered, "We're at the Owl Burrow Park Picnic Area." Jady frowned; that was a park that she went to a lot. "P-please hurry, I-w-we think they might have been abducted."

An abduction? Ok, now was _definitely_ the time to take the call seriously. "Don't worry, Lia, help is already on the way." Jady tapped at her buzzer again. "Everything's going to be fine, don't worry. We'll find your kids." Her ear swiveled around as she heard someone next to her receive a call. She tried her best to focus on her own call as that person started their call as well. "Now can you describe your kids to me?"

"Okay...um..." Lia's voice was trembling. Jady could tell she was having a hard time keeping it together. "I-I have a little girl. Her name's Emma. E-Emma Greene. She's about 8 years old, a-and 4 foot 5... She..." She stopped and began to cry.

"Ma'am, it's going to be okay. We'll find your daughter, but I need you to describe her for me so that we can find her." She heard Lia shudder for a few minutes before she finally managed to get a hold of herself. Eventually, Jady had all of the info she needed. There had been a family outing when all of a sudden they heard their children scream. By the time they'd made it to the scene, they were all gone. It was a very concerning story to hear, especially with it coming from somewhere she frequently went to.

"Please find them," Lia begged, "I-I don't know what we'd do without..." She couldn't finish her sentence as she began to sob uncontrollably.

"It's going to be alright, Lia. We're going to find them. Our officers are going to make sure that your kids make it back safely..." Jady began to trail off as she began to listen more closely to the call going on beside her.

"Brown hair and blue eyes?" asked the person next to her, "Mmhmm, species is a golden lab? Okay. And where was the last place you saw him?" Jady blinked in surprise; was that _another_ missing persons case? She shook her head and returned her attention back to her own call.

"I just...nothing like this has ever _happened_ before," sobbed Lia, "I'm sure they're both _scared_ and _crying_ and-"

"Ma'am, please," Jady cut her off, "No need to panic. I know you're scared, and that's fine. But help is on the way, and they're going to do their jobs and help bring your kids back home."

"Calvert City Police Department. What's your emergency?" Jady's ear flicked as she heard someone else receive a call. "Ma'am? Ma'am. Please calm down. What's your emergency? Okay... Uhuh... And you're _sure_ that they're missing?"

Jady's heart thudded. _Another_ one? That...had to be a coincidence... Right?

"Hello?!" she heard Lia call hysterically. Jady shook her head again and brought her attention back to the call at hand.

"Right. Sorry. So please be patient until the officer arrives at your location. They'll be there _very_ soon, so don't worry."

"...Okay..."

"Please stay safe, Lia. Goodbye." At that, the call ended, allowing Jady to finally set her phone down. She still couldn't help but think about the fact that-

"And what did you say the name of the missing person was?"

No. It couldn't be. _Another one missing?!_ After listening in for a few minutes, she realized that her ears weren't deceiving her. Including her own call, that made _4_ cases of missing people, and all in the same day! Was something going on?! She jolted as her phone began to ring again. "Calvert City Police Department. What's-"

"Please come quick!" a panicked voice shouted, "M-my little brother just went missing! I-I heard his scream, but I couldn't get to him in time! I think someone took him!"

This couldn't be real life.

After 5 straight weeks of mundane call after mundane call with each one dragging on and _on_ , there was just _no way_ that something could actually be _happening_ here.

" _Sorry, I_ -" Jady stopped herself to adjust her voice to stop sounding so giddy, "Right. I'm sending an officer now. Can I please get your exact location so that they will know where to find you?"

By the time her day had finally crawled to its end, the panther was absolutely _drained_. Though most of the day had been rather dull, the last few hours had taken a lot out of her (and the additional paperwork didn't help either). So as she began the trek back to her apartment, she allowed her mind to unwind by letting it wander. The first thing it wandered to, naturally, was the amount of calls her department received about missing people.

 _I wonder what the heck's going on. Cuz that was a_ lot _of people to suddenly go missing at once. Maybe they're all_ linked _... Maybe they're being held captive by some weird underground organization... Maybe it's happening because there's some weird conspiracy going on, and all of those people_ knew _something about it. Or MAYBE they're being recruited for some super-secret project that only a select few people are allowed to know about... Oh man, imagine cracking_ that _case. That'd be_ crazy _. I'd probably have a bunch of people on my tail trying to take me down. Heck, I'd probably get into a car chase! Wait...I don't have a car... Well maybe I'll have to_ hotwire _one in a hasty get away. Probably under gunfire..._ Definitely _under gunfire. Oh and then I'd confront the big boss and end up in a standoff where I have to decide whether I fight for the people or to join their underground operation. Man, that'd be so cool..._

* * *

Jady woke with a start. She groaned and looked around to try and figure out where the heck she was. Apparently her fantasy had went on for so long that she had made it home and fallen asleep face down on her couch without even realizing it. She felt several parts of her body crack as she lifted herself into an upright position on the night's temporary bed. Looking at herself, she realized she was still in uniform. Her laptop was sitting on the table in front of her couch, long since having fallen asleep. She tapped at the space bar and it whirred to life, presenting to her the video she had most likely fallen asleep to. A car chase compilation. Hm. Felt appropriate given the fantasy she had. Last she remembered, she was speeding down the 70 freeway with 7, no, 15 big black vehicles pursuing her. All with machine guns. Laser pointed machine guns. With a flamethrower.

It was a very specific fantasy.

After peeling the rest of herself off of the couch and gobbling down a bowl of cereal, she decided that it was a good idea to take a shower lest her uniform became her second coat of fur. Once she was all freshened up and wearing clothes that felt _infinitely_ more comfortable, she felt ready to start the morning off with a hike. So she grabbed up her phone and wallet before leaving her apartment and heading to her usual bus stop.

Nothing was especially noteworthy about the ride to her usual park. Aside from one guy trying to haggle his way into a ride, most of Jady's excitement came from yet another one of her fantasies. Having already gone through a car chase with her previous one, the next logical step (for her) was to be caught in a free-way free-run. This time, she was ducking behind crashed cars as the machine-gunned, flamethrower...y bad guy agents tried to gun her down. It was like one of those bullet-hell games she remembered hearing about once online, only 87 times more dangerous and more like an actual hell (what with the fire and such).

Before her fantasy could come to its thrilling conclusion, the bus driver announced her stop, forcing her to get off. She took a _deep_ whiff of the fresh woodland air as she stepped off the bus. _There_ was the good ol' scent. It felt cleansing in comparison to the stale, waxy smell of the police department. And the sight of the park was a familiar sight that she _actually enjoyed_ seeing (opposed to her boss, whom she wished she saw _less_ of). Everything was as she had left it all. The trees all had their leaves, the swing sets were-a-swingin,' and the parking lot was filled with police cars and cut off with caution tape.

Oh wait.

Oh...that was right... One of the kidnappings had taken place here... Jady suddenly found herself amazed at how easily she had forgotten such a detail. Upon a closer look, she realized that not all of the park had been taped off,but it was probably a good idea to just call off the walk and go home. Continuing would only invite danger as the person responsible for the kidnappings could possibly still be around. Even with how tempting it was to tempt fate in hopes that something thrilling would happen, she wasn't stupid enough to forget about how unbelievably dangerous taking this walk would be, or how foolish it would be to do so without acknowledging such risks. That's why she was making sure to keep _all_ of that in mind as she walked down the hill leading into the park.

 _Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually_ doing _this!_ Her tail swished about with giddy energy as she walked. _I might even get to come across a legitimate_ criminal _! I might end up running after one. Or-or maybe even run_ from _one! Or_ several _! Man, that would be so epic! Oooh, y'know what? I should get some stretches in in case that happens._ She came to a stop near a spot where caution tape had been wrapped around. As she pulled at her foot from behind her back, she absent-mindedly watched the cops from afar as they did their work.

They had stopped someone nearby for an interview, but otherwise most of them were just investigating the scene and collecting whatever they deemed as "evidence." It was then that she began to pine for the days when she actually had a _chance_ at becoming an actual cop. Had things gone differently, that probably would've been _her_ that was snooping around the area for a possible clue. But sadly, now was a little too late for her. With rent to pay and a decline in the physical prowess of her youth (she was walking for a reason, after all), taking the time to prepare for the entrance exam and _then_ manage time to go through the academy was simply _not_ an option.

Suddenly finding herself disgusted at the sight of so many cops in one spot, Jady turned on her heels and went on her way. But even as she continued her walk, the image of them wouldn't leave her head. She tried to think of something else, _anything_ else, but the only other thing that would come up was the thought of how she had really _screwed_ herself by not looking into how becoming a police officer worked. This unconsciously made her walk at a faster, more irritated pace. Her tail lashed around behind her and snarls occasionally escaped her muzzle. In a desperate attempt to silence her own mind, she decided to continue the fantasy she had been having.

 _So...where did I leave off again? Oh yeah, a bunch of criminals running after me. Oh man, there's a lot of trees around here. I wonder if it'll be like one of those action scenes where I'm running through the forest with gunfire at my heels. The trees would be all grazed and dented from the bullets, and I'd hear that high-pitched PHEW bullets make when they ricochet off of something. Hopefully I won't get nicked by one if that happens. Wait, actually, I hope I DO, cuz then I'd have a friggin_ battle scar _that I can brag about! So if someone tries to intimidate me, I can be like, "You wanna mess with_ me _? Boy, I've been chased, shot at n' actually_ shot _. A little pup like you doesn't scare me one_ bit _._

Jady suddenly stopped. However, it was _not_ of her own volition. For whatever reason, she could no longer move _any_ part of her body. She could feel herself trying, but it was like trying to run underwater; she just couldn't push through whatever was around her. Was it the air? She couldn't see anything different! Even her _eyes_ wouldn't move. Thus, her line of sight remained fixed upon the road ahead of her.

"Well look at what we have here..." Adrenaline jolted up her spine as she heard an unfamiliar voice come from behind her, "A new friend for Heart. How _exciting_. I just can't wait to hear the joy in his voice when I bring you to him..." She heard twigs snap as the owner of the voice stepped closer. Her mind began to race (as her heart seemed to be under the same influence as the rest of her body was) with every nearing step.

His feet sounded heavy; he was probably a big, hefty guy. She wanted to go further into detail, but she was too distracted by the thought that, whoever this guy was, _wasn't_ influenced by whatever was going on around her. Her mind then jumped to a wild conclusion. This was a mad scientist, and all of this was _his_ doing. And now he was out here testing out some new invention on her, the unlucky soul of the day. That _had_ to be it! There was no other possible explanation! But as this person stepped into her line of sight, she came up with a much more believable conclusion.

She was dreaming.

Standing before her was what looked to be something out of a movie. It was a humanoid machine with a disturbing blend of mechanical and organic parts. She found herself unable to look away from the skull-like structure of its head and the cobra-like frills adorning it. From the edge of her sight, she could see a metal plate melded to the front of its chest, one that had the number "042" etched into it.

"Oh, and how lovely," it said in a pleasant tone, "this one isn't afraid. Oh you'll be _sure_ to please Heart, I just _know_ it!"

Yup. This was a dream. No better explanation than that. That's why she could be calm and complacent over the fact that she could be very possibly witnessing the beginning of an actual Terminator apocalypse instead of absolutely freaking out like she should be. Even as it hoisted her over its shoulder and took her away, she remained perfectly calm. It wasn't like she could do anything at the moment. She couldn't move a muscle after all. It began to ramble on more about this "Heart" as it walked through the forest, so she began to wonder when she had fallen asleep.

She had a feeling that she was still on the bus dozing off in the back seat. She had the comfort of knowing that she could wake up at any second, and if she _really_ wanted to, she could just turn on a god mode in her dream and do whatever she wanted. She could do something right _now_ if she wanted. In fact, to prove her point, she would do that right now and start one of the most amazing dreams of her life!

...

...

...Oh.

...

...Oh.

...

...Oh no.

A scream escaped her throat, somehow even before her muzzle had fully opened. This startled the robotic skeleton-cobra and it tripped up for a moment. "What? What's wrong, friend?! I thought you were ok?!" Jady didn't feel like answering. With all of her might, she fought against whatever forces were keeping her static and flailed for her life. "No, it's _okay_. No need to be scared! My friend Heart will make you feel _all_ better." Jady was too busy with having a panic attack to even bother with listening to this thing. "It's okay, friend; this is natural. What you're feeling is _natural_. But you're going to feel better soon, friend! I promise!"

Nope, nope, NOPE! This was how all of those horror movies started! The villains that tried to sooth their victims were _always,_ ALWAYS the most sadistic ones! The second their defenses were lowered, and they began to open up to the crazy psycho murderer, WHAM! Dead on the floor! Thus she continued to sluggishly flail around like her life depended on it (and odds were it did). But suddenly, her limbs no longer felt like they were weighed down by sandbags, causing her to fling herself out of Robo-death-cop's arms. She grunted as she hit the ground hard as the robot stumbled backwards. Jady wasted no time with questioning why this had happened, and instead spent that time to FRIGGIN. RUN.

"Don't run away, friend!" it shouted after her, "COME BACK, FRIEND!" That was the _last_ thing she was planning on doing, especially since she could hear it running after her. She glanced behind her as she ran and, sure enough, there it was, hauling arse after her. No matter how far she ran, every time she checked again, it was still there, each time getting closer and closer. By the fifth check, it was only mere meters away from her. Any closer and she'd be within arm's reach. A thrill of panic rushed down into her leg muscles, spurring her on to run even faster. Its hand was so close to her. She couldn't afford to slow down, to trip, or to-

She yelped as she suddenly dropped. With her gaze having been locked onto her pursuer, she had failed to realize that she had been running towards a steep hill. Now she was tumbling down it, narrowly missing trees and bushes on her way down. All of them save for one, which ended up bringing her tumble to an abrupt halt upon collision with it. She groaned and laid there as she cradled her gut, which had taken a hefty blow from the collision. As she tried to shift herself up to her knees, the branches of the bush scratched at her.

"FRIEND?!" Jady's back fur stood up on end as she heard the psychotic robot's voice echo through the forest, "Where'd you GO, FRIEND?!" It sounded close. _Too_ close. Carefully shoving her head up against the bush's branches, she saw that it wasn't too far off. And judging by the fact that its gaze remained focused in her general direction, her hiding spot probably didn't have much longevity to it.

Left with no other choice, Jady BOLTED out of the bush and ran the rest of the way down the hill. She didn't have to wait very long for the friendship-hungry-robo to notice her and continue the chase. Jady's heart was _pounding_ in her chest at this point, and it only beat faster as she found herself running short of breath. With the robot catching up to her far quicker than before, she began to fear for the worst.

"Hey! You! Over here!"

But Jady's fear quickly turned into confusion. That voice hadn't belonged to the robot. It had come from...an opening in the ground? Out in the distance? Given her current situation, though, it probably wasn't the strangest thing she'd come across. Either way, she trusted _any_ voice that didn't belong to this psychotic friend-freak. Forcing a second wind out of herself, Jady rushed forward with all of her might and ran down the strange tunnel-thing the mysterious voice had come from. The sound of her shoes hitting concrete echoed down the tunnel as she delved deeper into its dark depths. Her pupils dilated as her pathway grew dimmer. She eventually found herself running in complete and utter darkness, making her thankful over her feline traits granting her night vision.

She had more to feel thankful for, as she realized that the sounds of her pursuer had grown distant. This filled her with enough energy to run even faster, zooming down this strange, expansive hallway of darkness. She had no idea who had saved her or why, but she knew that she'd be giving them one HECK of a hug after all of this was said and-

She screamed as the familiar sight of the robot loomed into view. Her sneakers screeched as she tried to slow her descent, but she was still running too fast. Her heart skipped ten beats as she ducked beneath its arm as it swung for her. She dared not slow down any further as she heard it chase her further down the tunnel. Had this thing teleported?! Was it just incredibly fast?! She had no idea how likely either of those facts could be, but what she _refused_ to believe was that it had been a _second_ one of those freaks, and it had led her _right_ into its trap.

With no other choice but to keep running, Jady ran as fast as she could, praying that the momentum she had built up would be enough to keep her from giving in to her burning lungs and spinning head. There was no telling how far this tunnel went, or if there'd be an escape route of some kind, but the one thing she knew for _sure_ was that, if she couldn't get away from them now, she was-

Suddenly, she reached level ground, making her stumble and trip. Somehow managing to maintain her balance, she looked around and came to one final realization.

Yup. She was screwed.

She now stood in what she could only see as a big room, one with no perceivable exits. Even if there were any, the room was far too dark and expansive to tell. This didn't discourage her from searching, though; she couldn't afford a dead end now! Her tail lashed around wildly as she frantically searched the place. A table, some scrap metal, car parts? What the heck was this place for?!

"Oh thank god you're here!" exclaimed a voice, making Jady nearly jump out of her skin, "Now come on! Hurry! I don't know how long my trick will work on them!"

Them?! There WERE two of them?! Oh this was getting better and better by the SECOND.

"No time to waste!" urged the voice, one that Jady now realized was coming from a speaker somewhere in this massive room, "Grab your gear! It's on the table!"

Gear? What gear?! Jady wished that she had the breath to ask questions, but her lungs were far too occupied with rejuvenating her body with oxygen to grant her that luxury. So taking up the mentality of acting first and asking questions later, Jady found her way back to the table she had come across during her frantic scramble for a way out. What she found there was a wrist bracelet and some weird hunk of metal.

"Come on! We don't have much time left!" urged the voice further. Hissing to herself, Jady strapped the bracelet on and grabbed the metal brick. Her back fur stood up on end as the sounds of approaching footsteps echoed down the tunnel. "What are you doing?! Put on the belt already!" Belt?! What belt?! There was a belt?! She stared at the hunk of metal in her paw. Nope, NOT a belt! "You're wasting time! They're almost here! Just put it on already!" Put it on?! There was no belt strap of which to speak of! What, was a magical belt supposed to just snake out of it and-

She flinched as an electric spark shocked her midsection. Suddenly, she felt something snake around her body and latch onto the metal hunk she had slapped against herself in her panic. Welp...that answered that.

"Hey! You're forgetting the Shift Car!"

Shift Car?! _Now_ what was this crazy bat rambling about?! She whirled back around to face the table and spotted something small. She snatched it up, assuming it was whatever the heck the voice was screaming about.

"FRIEND!" Jady's heart leapt straight up to her throat. She whirled around again and saw, to her horror, _TWO_ of those psychotic friend machines. One of them rushed towards her and she hastily dove out of the way.

"Calm down!" shouted the unidentified building voice, "No need to be scared! You've done this plenty of times in practice!"

Practice? PRACTICE?! What was this crazy old bat TALKING about?! She backpedaled as fast as she could away from the second friend-bot as it went after her.

"You've got this!" came the voice again, "I'll guide you through it again if I have to!" Electricity shot through Jady's system as she dove beneath an arm, frantically scrambling to her feet once she hit the ground. "Ok! Turn the key on the belt! Afterwards just lock the Shift Car into your brace!"

Turn the thing! Put the thing in the thing! Jady repeated this to herself in her head as she ducked away from another grab. As she scurried away from that buddy-borg, she fiddled her fingers around belt's gigantic buckle until she found the closest thing that felt like a key. With a quick twist, the belt itself sparked to life with the thundering sound of a revving engine. Red light illuminated the expansive room as a screen on the belt flared on.

"BEHIND YOU!" With this warning, Jady yelped as she backpedaled away from one of the robots, tripping over something unseen and hitting the ground hard. She groaned as a dull pain radiated from her shoulder. She quickly found herself despising the red light coming from her belt, as it was currently shining upon both of the cybernetic friend fanatics and making them appear TEN TIMES as horrifying as they already were. The only bright side to this was the fact that it gave her the adrenaline she needed to frantically scramble far enough to allow her to get back up safely.

Put the thing in the thing! The thing in the THING! With her paws trembling and her fur standing on end, she fumbled with the Shift Car until she finally managed to jam it into her new brace. A sudden screech rang from the belt, making Jady clench up out of fear. But after a few seconds of waiting, she opened her eyes to find that the only thing that had changed was that the friendinators were even _closer_ now!

"Wait, what's going on?!" shouted the mystery voice in genuine confusion, "Why isn't it working?!" Oh good! Something _was_ supposed to happen! It just didn't! This was SWELL news to hear in the middle of being pursued by two of the most terrifying Care-Bears she'd ever seen! Left with the choice of either getting this gear to do what it was supposed to or going into ABSOLUTE PANIC MODE, Jady fumbled around with the only things she had interacted with thus far; the belt and the brace. She tried everything she could think of. Turning the key several times, sliding the Shift thingy off and on again-

She let out a horrified scream as she suddenly felt a hand GRAB her shoulder in a vice-like grip. She looked up to see a familiar skeletal face staring her right in the eyes. "I think you should stop trying to run now, friend," it hissed, sending a chilling shiver down Jady's spine, "It's time you came with us."

ABSOLUTE PANIC MODE IT WAS! With no other option left than giving this one last shot, Jady tore the Shift Car off of the brace and jammed it back in with as much strength as she could muster. The force of her push was enough to cause the device to crank like a lever and snap right back down.

 **DRIVE! TYPE: NEXT!**

She winced as a blindingly bright light erupted from out of nowhere and burned at her eyes. She threw an arm over her eyes as she shut them, feeling the robot's grip slacken before she felt hands clamp ALL OVER her body. Oh sweet LORD it was EATING HER! ENVELOPING HER! ASSIMILATING HER! She could already FEEL herself getting DEVOURED and growing...stronger...

Wait.

She opened her eyes to be greeted with a very... _new_ sight. For one thing, her night vision was now on steroids, as she could see everything even _clearer_ now. For a moment, she began to wonder if she had just been turned into one of _them_ as she looked upon herself and saw the glowing metal exoskeleton now covering her body. But after realizing that she looked _nothing_ like either of them, she realized that all of these metal plates were armor. They both flinched as another bright light shined upon them, one that was coming from her...eyes? She touched her face and realized that it too was now covered, encased by the flashlight that was now her helmet. Even _more_ lights filled the room as glowing yellow stripes roamed down the rest of her body and blinded everyone but her.

She had never felt so happy with being as confused as she was right now.

"YES! It WORKED!" the mystery voice shouted, "Alright, go GET EM! I'll get in touch with you when I get to the other room!"

"W-wait-Wait-WAIT a second!" Jady had found her voice too late apparently, as she received no response whatsoever. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'GET THEM'?!" Red lights filled her eyes as an arrow pointed to her right. She turned and yelped as she stepped _just_ out of reach of another grab. She smacked the offending arm away from her before frantically kicking her leg forward. Her foot connected with the cyborg-hugger's gut, and the air CLAPPED from the impact. The robot was then sent SHOOTING back and SLAMMED into its friend, knocking it down to the floor with it.

Jady's heart began to race again, only this time it wasn't from fear. No, this was _excitement_. Had that really been _her_? Figuring that there was only one way to find out, she turned to a nearby table and RAMMED her fist through it. The unsuspecting furniture item snapped cleanly in two, unable to withstand the force of her new-found strength. YES. SO MUCH YES. MAMA LIKES. So caught up was she in her admiration over this new revelation that she didn't notice one of the robots closing in on her before it was too late. She let out a yelp as she felt its arms wrap around her gut in a tight lock.

"Friends shouldn't hurt each other!" it shouted as it tried to pull her away, "Friends don't fight!"

"W-well, y'know what?!" she shouted back as she struggled, suddenly feeling the urge to talk back, "Friends don't KIDNAP each other either!" In a sudden jolt, Jady's elbow connected with the side of hug-a-lot's head and sent sparks _flying_. The hit made its grip loosen on her, allowing her to whirl around and WHACK it in the head once more. More sparks flew off of its body as it was thrown off of her body and onto the floor. Holy CRAP, that was AWESOME! She was a legit SUPER HERO now! A Super Fighting Robot! A-a Mighty Morphin' Wonder Woman! A Captain Iron Hulk!

Apparently she was also easily distracted, made evident by the fact that she was now being restrained by one of the robots again. This time, it was gripping her whole arm and showed NO signs of wanting to let go.

"42! Grab her other arm!" it shouted. 42 was upon her before she could even begin to struggle. With both of them holding onto either of her arms, she began to feel the need to go into panic mode once again. And despite her incredible new strength, she couldn't manage to shake either of them off.

Alarms were ringing in her head now. Literally. There were ACTUAL alarms ringing in her head. Two bright red arrows flashed in her eyes, pointing to her two friend-nappers as though to punctuate the fact that she was currently screwed. As if she didn't already have enough things flashing in her eyes; now a set of spotlights were setting her retinas ablaze. Engine sounds were quickly drowned out by tire screeches as the lights suddenly jumped forward. Her heart was the next thing to jump as she realized that there was currently a car zooming straight for the three of them. She let out a cry for help and closed her eyes as the car closed in, swerving just in time to slam into one of the robots restraining her arm. As that one flew into a nearby wall, Jady and the other robot flew to the ground, leading to both of them being separated from each other. As the panther picked herself up, the door to the driver's seat swung open.

Again, Jady felt the need to act first and ask questions later. So she scrambled back up to her feet and ran into the car, shutting the door closed behind her. Just as her fingers found the door-lock button, something SLAMMED against the car's windshield. Jady frantically looked up and saw that one of the robots had clamored on top of the car and was now pounding its fist against the _apparently_ sturdy glass. But with its friend seeming to join in on the fun and climbing atop as well, Jady didn't fancy waiting around to see just _how_ sturdy it was. Peering between the array of flailing limbs, she saw lights trailing up the incline of the tunnel. With pre-school instincts to follow the dotted line kicking in, Jady FLOORED the gas pedal and held on tight to the steering wheel. The loud squeals of tires rang in her ears just before the car accelerated forward with the resulting g-force pushing her deeper into her seat.

The car's engine roared loudly as she went faster and faster, the incline seeming to provide no hindrance to her acceleration what-so-ever. She suddenly regretted forgoing strapping her seatbelt and prayed that she wouldn't end up crashing into anything that could lead to her flying through the windshield at the same speed. But she couldn't afford to let go of the wheel now; those robots were STILL clinging onto the car!

She felt the blood drain from her face as the car reached the end of the tunnel, leading to it _flying_ out of it and going airborne. She screamed as the car fell victim to the laws of gravity, making her gut drop in the process. She wrenched her eyes shut before the car's wheels touched down the ground once again. The impact caused her to bounce up out of her seat and slam her head into the roof of the car. The poor feline had no time for a breather with lights dancing around her vision and the two clingiest robots in the world STILL showing no signs of letting up. Could these guys REALLY not take a hint?!

"Eh-EH?! Nani nani?! Koko wa doku desuka?!"

OH WHAT NOW?!

This was yet ANOTHER new voice and it was coming from...SOMEWHERE in the car! She had no idea WHERE and she hardly had the time to take her eyes off of the road and LOOK! "OK! WHO ARE YOU, _WHERE_ ARE YOU, AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"Nani?! Eigo wo hanase masuka?! A-ano..." The voice seemed to pause as the car's current luggage returned to banging their fists against the windshield. "W-what is going on?! Who are you, and-and who am _I_?!"

"Alright! I'm back!" suddenly came the _first_ mysterious voice, "I finally got this thing to work again!"

"W-who is that?!" shouted the second.

"What the-who is THAT?!" shouted back the first.

"Who are EITHER of you?!" Jady screamed at both.

"Who are YOU?!" shouted the first. Their shouting session was interrupted by what sounded like clattering from the other line. "FLYNN?! What are you doing here?!"

"I just got back inside!" shouted ANOTHER new voice, "What's going on?!"

"That's what I WANNA KNOW!" Jady shouted.

"Wait! WHO ARE YOU?!" barked Flynn.

"Who are _YOU_?!" Jady barked back.

"What is happening?!" wailed the second mystery voice.

"Who is THAT?!" Flynn barked again.

"That's what I'M trying to find out!" exclaimed the first mystery voice.

"ABUNAI!" shouted the second. Before Jady had a chance to contribute to the shout fest, the car SLAMMED into one of the road-side trees, flinging Jady towards the dashboard to be stopped by the rapidly deployed air-bags. They kept her in her seat as the car spun out of control, leaving tire tracks all over the road in its wake. Jady and the second voice both screamed out in terror until the car finally came to a stop, thankfully with all four tires safely on the ground. Though her insides now felt like they were scrambled and switched around, she was happy to have made it out of that alive.

"HEY!" barked Flynn again, "WHO is on the other side of this line?!"

"MY-NAME-IS-JADY-ATTAH-AND-I-LIVE-IN-CALVERT-CITY-IN-A-SHODDY-OLD-APARTMENT-AND-I-WORK-IN-A-DEAD-END-JOB-AT-THE-POLICE-DEPARTMENT-EVEN-THOUGH-I-WANTED-TO-BE-A-POLICE-OFFICER-ALL-OF-MY-LIFE-SO-THAT-I-COULD-DO-SUPER-EXCITING-THINGS-ALL-THE-TIME-BUT-NOW-I'M-SERIOUSLY-RECONSIDERING-THAT-NOTION-"

"Shut up and tell me how in the world you managed to get your dirty hands on our equipment!" Flynn cut her off with clear frustration.

"Th-the-the weird voice told me to take it! I-I mean the _first_ weird voice! The-the LADY you're with!"

"Well it's because I thought that was _you_ , Flynn!"

Jady let out another scream as a sharp CRACK cut through the air. She looked up again to see that a crack had formed on one of the areas the robots had been banging their fists against. Her heart throbbed at the thought of them getting inside with her still trapped behind the air bags. She frantically pushed at the air bag trapping her as she tried to reach for the door.

"No, just stay there!" shouted the still unnamed woman, "Let the car's auto-repair system take care of things!" It seemed the world wanted her out of that door either way, because soon after, the door was suddenly torn open by one of the robots. Jady let out a squeal as it grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her out and onto the open road. She jumped straight back up to her feet as soon as she landed on solid ground and made sure to back away from both of them to keep them at a fair distance.

"You're making this _difficult_ for us, friend," said 42, "If you keep this up...we'll have to use _force_ , friend..."

"Now try to behave..." said the other one. Jady glanced down at its chest and noticed the numbers "047" etched onto its plate. In that instance, something washed over her body that made her flinch. Or rather, _try_ to. It took her a moment to recognize the heavy feeling her body had went through when she had first run into these robotic nightmares. As such, her arm was still _sluggishly_ rising even moments after she had willed it to do so. Words suddenly flashed in her eyes, blinking red words that were impossible for her to ignore that read, "Heavy Acceleration."

As she tried to process what the heck that meant, she became distracted by the fact that her armor was now vibrating. Without warning, she was released from the sluggish affliction and lurched forward into a stumble, prompting shocked gasps from the two robots. "Now's your chance!" shouted the woman, "Attack them now!"

"Attack?! ATTACK?!"

"Get THEM before they get YOU!" barked Flynn.

"J-JADY-SAN! They're COMING!" both the mystery voice and the flashing red arrows got Jady to look up in time to see 47 rushing at her. She yelped and hastily leaped to the side before it could grab her. Scrambling back to her feet again, she looked back and forth between both of them.

"Okay Jady, you got this!" she stammered to herself as she bounced anxiously on her toes, "You're decked out in some rad-as-heck armor n' you're SUPER strong! You can take on some robo-punks like these guys! You got this, you GOT this, YOU GOT THIS!" Uttering out a battle cry, she CHARGED forward and reeled her arm back. With a loud holler, she THREW her fist forward and aimed straight for 47's head. But it saw her move from a mile away and managed to side-step out of the way. Jady grunted as her fist SMASHED into the car's still damaged frame, making the whole thing lurch suddenly.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" snapped the woman's voice, "Just cuz' it's fixing itself doesn't mean you can go n' break it again!"

"I'm _sorry_ , I-" Jady clammed up as red arrows flashed in her eyes again. But instead of turning voluntarily, she was whirled around by one of the robots before reeling back and striking her across the chest. Jady shrieked out as hot pain rushed through her body. She hunched over and guarded her chest with an arm as she stumbled backwards. All at once, the gravity of the situation fully set in for her. At the corner of her vision, she could see a read-out of her heart rate which had spiked up tremendously. She felt heat radiate from where she had been struck and she feared that she might have just been seriously injured.

"Jady-san, they're coming!" Jady's heart leapt as 42 suddenly lunged forward. Caught in a panic, she blindly swung her arm out at the robot and missed wildly. Her heart throbbed as its hand fell onto her forearm, and she frantically swatted it away before scrambling backwards. "Wait! No! Behind you!" Jady cried out again as a heavy, metallic foot was driven into her back, sending her tumbling towards the car.

"Okay, that's it! I'm calling it!" shouted the woman, "Jady, get back in the car and get out of there NOW!"

"NO!" barked Flynn, "Get back in there and take them out PROPERLY!"

"Are you KIDDING ME, FLYNN?!" snapped the woman, "Look at her! She clearly can't handle them!" The decision was made for them, apparently, as the car suddenly swerved around and batted the two robots away. The door swung open for her as she climbed back up to her feet.

"Hayaku! Hayaku!" urged the unidentified voice. With no fight left in her to argue, the panther stumbled into the driver's seat before the door closed behind her and the car shot off into the distance. As it disappeared from their sight, the two robots looked to each other.

"...Well?" said one of them, "What do you think we should tell Heart?"

* * *

With control over the car having been relinquished by... _something_ , Jady was finally allowed some respite. So there she sat, panting from exhaustion in a full suit of sci-fi armor, sunken into the seat of a currently self-driven car after having been attacked by two friend request psycho-bots. Admittedly, this _hadn't_ been what she had expected from the day when she had woken up this morning.

Thankfully, her chest didn't feel broken or anything, and from the looks of the read-out of her body that was being shoved in her eyes, the rest of her was alright as well. All of the other chaotic aspects of the day had also fallen to the wayside, with all of the voices that had previously been blaring in her ears now having gone silent on her. Once the self-check-up app vanished from her sight, she saw that the car was approaching the same tunnel that she had emerged from originally. It slowed down as it descended down its now lit road, allowing the rumble of the car's engine to calm to a soft, reverberating purr. It didn't take long for her to arrive in the room she had run into (she could tell from seeing the table she had smashed in half).

Now that it was properly lighted, she could see that it was some kind of decked out garage. Evidently, there _had_ been doors available to her and she had merely failed to notice them in her panic. Splendid.

Jady shoved the thought aside for later once she took notice of the two new occupants of the room. One of them was a Labrador in a lab-coat wearing an expression that was some kind of mix between cautious and confused. Though Jady wanted to laugh at the idea of a Lab in a lab, she was still a bit too shaken up to take the situation so lightly. Judging by the long hair trailing down to her shoulders, Jady guessed that the canine was the first mystery voice she had heard.

Standing next to her with his arms crossed was a mountain lion dressed not too differently from Jady. Well, when she had been wearing regular clothes, of course. She guessed this one to be Flynn, and seeing how agitated he appeared to be, she felt pretty confident with that assumption. But that still left one last voice...

The car soon rolled to a stop, and its door popped open. With a huff, Jady pulled herself up and stepped out, standing before the two other furs in all of her dented up glory.

"...Ano..." came the still unidentified voice, "Nani ga...okotteiru no desu ka?" This prompted two wildly different reactions from both of them, with the Lab gasping in shock and Flynn curling his lips back in a snarl. Left unsure of what to do, Jady just stood there awkwardly, shuffling her weight between her heels.

"O-oh right," the Lab spoke up, "Just take out the Shift Car and press the button on your brace. That should get rid of the armor." As much as she enjoyed having it on, it was getting quite stuffy. So Jady followed her given instructions and, low and behold, the armor vanished into thin air in a bright flash.

Though happy to be back in her regular clothes, the panther felt more exposed than ever before these two furs. Both of their gazes were bearing into her, but it was Flynn's that bothered her the most. His intense glare spoke all on its own, somehow conveying words that felt too inappropriate to acknowledge. With no one apparently willing to break the sudden silence thrust upon them, Jady smacked her lips and swished her tail. "...So-"

"First, who are you," Flynn cut her off before she was even able to get to a second syllable, "Second, how did you find this place? Third, what were you even doing here in the first place? Fourth-"

"Okay, okay, enough," the Lab cut _him_ off, waving her paws around as she stepped between the two of them, "Just take it easy on her. She's probably really confused right now."

"WELL SO AM I!" Flynn barked at her with a snarl.

"Look, it won't do us any good to confuse her further. Plus she deserves a proper explanation about what's going on."

"Y-yeah that's RIIiiight," Jady bit down on her lips and hushed herself as soon as Flynn's soul-searing gaze whipped back around to her. The Lab sighed and shook her head before looking over to her as well.

"I guess I'll break the ice then," she began, "My name's Amber. Amber Sawagami. And this is Flynn." The mountain lion rolled his eyes at her, with this being what would probably be the only break from his death-stare for some time.

"Okay...well, my name's-"

"It's okay," Amber cut her off, holding up a paw, "We already know who you are. You told us about yourself after the crash."

"And you wouldn't _shut up_ about it either..." Flynn muttered under his breath. Amber shot him a look, but he seemed determined to continue being as unpleasant and irritable as possible.

"Ano..." came a third voice, "W-watashi wa-ah, gomen'na...I-I mean, sorry. I-I have no name that I'm aware of. In fact...I don't know my own identity, or...why I am here, or...what's even going on."

Jady blinked and glanced down at the belt, only now noticing that the screen was displaying a vague representation of a face. "W-whoa wait! The BELT was the one spouting all of that Japanese lingo?!"

"H-hai," the belt replied, "Ah, I mean, that's correct."

"And THAT'S ANOTHER THING I-"

"FLYNN!" Amber silenced him, "One step at a time..." The feline grumbled to himself and settled down.

"Well..." Jady decided to speak up again, "like the...talking...belt said; what the flippin' heck is going on?! What _were_ those things, and why were they so obsessed with 'friending' me?!"

During the pause Amber took to consider her response, Flynn took his chance to speak up. "Those _things_ you so casually ran into are called Roidmudes. They're highly dangerous androids that need to be destroyed as soon as possible. And _thanks to you_ , TWO of them are roaming freely around in the wild."

"FLYNN!" Amber snapped at him. Again, the lion remained undeterred. Letting out a defeated sigh, she turned back to Jady and went on. "He's right, though. Those Roidmudes are incredibly dangerous and they need to be neutralized as soon as possible. They're most likely responsible for the recent string of kidnappings that have been happening around here."

Even after everything she had gone through today, Jady still had a hard time believing that this was real life. There really _had_ been a connection to all of those calls reporting missing people. And now she was _smack dab_ in the middle of it all.

"Thing is, we don't know whether they're only capturing all of those people, or worse..."

Jady's ears flicked. "Oh, wait a minute. I actually _do_ know." Both Amber and Flynn perked at the mention. "Yeah, one of them grabbed me while I was walking and he took me away. He kept blabbering on about something friend-related. I was kinda too busy freaking out to really be listening to what he was saying, but from what I remember, it didn't seem like he had the intention of doing anything worse than...abduction. I mean at first anyway."

Whilst Amber seemed to ponder on her words, Flynn gave her a look of suspicion. Jady was willing to guess that the fellow feline didn't feel ready to take her word for anything just yet. Regardless, Jady went on. "Yeah, it's actually how I came across this place. I managed to wriggle out of his arms when that weird _slowness_ thing wore off. And while I was running for my life, I heard Amber's voice call out to me. That's when I noticed your underground tunnel thing. With a crazed psycho bot on my tail, and with really nowhere left for me to hide, I just kinda ran down there and followed her voice."

"Mmmmmm," Amber nodded thoughtfully, "I get what happened now. You must've heard me when I was trying to lure the Roidmude that got in here outside." Jady's mind briefly flashed back to when she had nearly crashed into it. _Now_ all of the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place. "I was trying to lure it away so that I could buy some time for Flynn to get back. That's why when you ran in when the lights were still out, I thought you were him. So...wait, Flynn, where _were_ you when that happened then?"

"I was still outside, trying to get the main power back on. That pile of scrap really did a number on our generators... But now it's _my_ turn to ask questions. You." Jady felt a tingle run up her spine. "How on EARTH were you able to transform?"

"... _I dunno_ ," she shrugged, "I just _did_ it!"

"A likely story," Flynn spat, his tone starkly contrasting the message of his statement, "The Drive system was designed to work with me and _me alone_. That means that it should've been IMPOSSIBLE for anyone else to use it. Here, I'll PROVE it!" Jady's heart leapt as he suddenly closed the space between the two of them. She yelped as he grabbed onto the belt buckle and yanked it off of her, causing the belt itself to suddenly vanish.

"W-watashi o kizutsukenaide kudasai," the buckle stammered as it was swung around. Flynn's upper lip twitched before he slapped the device against his waist. To everyone's surprise, the belt that had snaked around Jady never appeared, even as the mountain lion stood there waiting for it. With a snarl, he pat the buckle against himself several times in hopes of prompting the belt to finally show up.

"Why isn't it WORKING?!" he snarled, clutching the buckle tighter.

"Ah! Ah-p-please calm down!" the buckle tried to shout over him. This only seemed to anger him further, though. He yanked it back up and held it in front of him, glaring at the screen as if it was the buckle's actual face.

"And what are YOU supposed to be?! And WHY are you in my BELT?!"

"I...I...a-ano..."

"YOU!" Flynn boomed, sending another tingling jolt up Jady's spine, "You haven't answered me yet! What did you do to my Drive system?!"

"FLYNN, that's ENOUGH!" Amber barked, grabbing hold of his shoulder and getting him to stop, "You're freaking both her _and_ the AI out!"

Flynn's eyes went wide as he turned to face her. "You mean you _care_ about this thing's emotional state? In a time like THIS?!"

"There's no point in keeping everyone on edge, Flynn," she replied calmly, "Besides, I find its existence...intriguing."

"Wait, you mean it _wasn't_ supposed to be there before?!" Jady spoke up, having found her voice next to where she had left her nerves. "I thought it was just a high-tech feature of the armor..."

"The DRIVE system," Flynn growled.

"It most certainly wasn't there _originally_ ," Amber explained, paying no mind to the feline's temper, "There _was_ an AI I left for Flynn that was meant to act as a guide on how to operate Drive, but it wasn't NEARLY as complex as _this_ one. It _emotes,_ it responds to speech... Honestly...it's quite fascinating. I'm curious how it even came to _be_..."

"...Ano..." it spoke up, sounding as though it was afraid to speak up out of fear of angering the owner of the hands that now held it, "watashi-ah, ah, iie. M-my first memory is of Jady-san crashing into the tree during all of the panic." The two other furs continued to contrast each other. Whilst Amber appeared greatly invested and intrigued by this piece of information, Flynn looked as though he could care less. Odds were that that actually was the case.

"Can you just _fix_ this already?" he asked, waving the buckle at her like it was a broken appliance. Admittedly, this was getting to Jady more than she expected it to.

"I'll see what I can do," Amber replied, taking the buckle from him, "Right now, though, I really want to learn more about Jady and this strange AI. Besides, you saw it too, right? The Drive that Jady made _wasn't_ the one we designed."

"I noticed," he replied in an "as a matter of fact" tone, "That's why I want to know what SHE did to the belt, and HOW she was able to transform with it. I can't be the only one that remembers that you set the system matched to MY DNA and MINE ALONE. You said it yourself that NO ONE ELSE would be able to transform aside from me!"

"Flynn-"

"I'm NOT calming down, Amber! In fact I'm amazed at how lightly you're taking this! I for one am LIVID. First from the fact that someone else was able to transform! Second from the fact that I CAN'T anymore! And third that YOU aren't taking this as seriously as you SHOULD be! Do I actually have to remind you that the Roidmudes have FINALLY resurfaced, and that NOW we have the chance to take them out once and for all?!"

" **FLYNN!** " The firmness in Amber's voice seemed to be enough to quell the beast that was Flynn's temper. As he seethed in anger, Amber took a slow breath in. "Flynn, I understand why you're frustrated, but this little tantrum you're having ISN'T going to solve anything. I will look into what's going on with the Drive system and I will see what I can do, but as of right now, we're STUCK either way. We DON'T know where the Roidmudes currently are, the building needs emergency blockades from the damage it took, and you AREN'T going to be Drive anytime soon until we can figure out how to fix this. Now have I made myself CLEAR?"

It seemed as though she had, as the fire that had been fueling Flynn no longer seemed to burn within him. He was now as silent as a statue and moved just about as much as one. With that settled, Amber turned to Jady again. "So then, Jady, do you mind telling us what you know about the Roidmudes? Do you maybe know why that one tried to take you away?"

Oh, right, she was part of this conversation.

"Well, I remember that it kept going on about _friends_ and what _friends_ were supposed to do to each other. Apparently kidnappings are a popular pass-time among robot-friends." Her ear flicked as she caught the sound of an unamused chuff coming from the other feline. "And...he kept going on about someone named...'Heart.'"

"Heart?" Amber echoed with a tone of confusion. She shared a confused glance with Flynn before turning back to Jady. "Do...do you know if that's a Roidmude, or a _person_?"

Jady shrugged. "Dunno. The only thing I could tell is that he's some kind of big-shot for them, at least from the way the guy talked about him. And he talked about him _a lot_. Like, I'm talking-"

"Okay, okay, so...do you know anything else about the Roidmudes?" After Jady shook her head, Amber pressed a paw against her head and let out a sigh. "Alright, well, we've got a lot to think about. I'm gonna go run some tests to see what's going on with the Drive system. Flynn, lock down the garage and check the security systems to make sure those things didn't follow her back." Flynn nodded without a word (since his death stare already spoke pages for Jady). "And Jady? We're gonna be stuck here for a while, so you might as well get comfy."

Jady looked around the garage. "...I don't know how comfy I can get without a couch or...chair in general."

"Ummm..." Amber took her turn with looking around the place, "Just go ahead and sit in the car."

"Are you TRYING to push my buttons?!" Flynn shouted from afar.

"Ignore him. Just go ahead and get comfortable." Jady had no qualms with this (after all, she was warming up to the idea of doing anything she could to frustrate stank-eye-Flynn). As such, she walked back over to the car and plopped back into the driver's seat. With both felines out of her hair, Amber huffed through her nose and raised the buckle up to eye level. " _Alright_ , let's have ourselves a little looksee..."

"...Please be gentle," it squeaked.

* * *

Heart now stood on the other side of his fence, picking at one of the many piles of scrap littered around him. As he reached for a particularly intriguing piece, he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps. With undeniable glee, he dropped everything he was carrying and stood up straight to properly face his two companions. "Welcome back, my friends!" he greeted them with wide-spread arms, "So, were you able to find us a new friend?"

Both appeared reluctant to speak. Eventually, 42 stepped forward and said, "Why... _yes_ , Heart, we were. But...I bring terrible news. We've run into...a _problem_..."

"Problem?" Heart repeated, lowering his arms, "What do you mean?"

"She didn't want to come with us!" shouted 47, "She struggled and tried to get away!"

Heart chuffed and shook his head. "Oh 47, you know that's how they _all_ start off! It just takes _patience_ , my friend."

"Yes, Heart, we know," nodded 42, "But...this one was different. She... _fought_ us. She could _move_...like us."

"She didn't freeze like all of the others!" 47 exclaimed. "And she tried to HURT us!"

Heart was taken aback upon these revelations. Sure, his friends being outright attacked was one thing, but to find out that this person could move like _them_? _That_ wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"What are we going to do, Heart?" asked 42.

"Should we try and hurt _her_?" suggested 47.

" _No_ no no no no," Heart shook his head, turning his back to them and looking across the wilderness that lay behind the fence, "Haven't you learned by now, my friends? The _best_ way to get rid of an enemy...is to make them your friend..."

* * *

A good amount of time had passed by the time Flynn finished his work. Now he stood in the garage once more, leaning against the one _intact_ table where Amber was working. Jady, meanwhile still remained stretched out in the reclined seat of the car. The window nudged up and down as her fingers played with the controls.

"Cut that out," Flynn snapped at her. Jady's desire to do the exact _opposite_ was fueled by his anger, and the window continued to jerk up and down as a result. A snarl began to form on Flynn's muzzle and his tail began to swish.

Just before he snapped again, Amber announced, "Okay, I think I know what happened. Technically, Flynn, it _wasn't_ impossible for someone else to use the Drive system. Yes, I designed it to _only_ work with you, but there was a _small_ probability of error in the programming."

"How small are we talking?!" called Jady from the car.

" _Well_ ," Amber's eyes went back to the computer, "if my numbers are correct, the probability of failure was about... _Oh_." She took a moment to collect herself before re-checking her numbers. "...About...0.0001%."

The sound of a pin-drop could sound about as loud as a bomb going off in the silence that passed through the room.

"...So..." Flynn began, "you mean to tell me...that I'm losing my one chance at redemption...to some idiot who got stupidly LUCKY?!"

"Hey! Who're you callin' stupid, Stupid?!"

"ENOUGH, you two!" Amber barked.

"HOW long until you can fix this?!" Flynn shouted without missing a beat.

"Several months at the least," Amber answered him with regret. Flynn banged his fist against the table as he walked away.

"We don't HAVE several months! Those Roidmudes are still out there doing GOD KNOWS what!"

"I _know_ Flynn! I know..." Both of them brooded in silence, allowing each of them to cool down on their own.

"...So what are we going to do?" Amber only shook her head, unable to come up with an answer for him.

"...Did...did you guys seriously forget about me already?" rang Jady's voice. Flynn's eyebrow twitched as he whirled around to see her finally sitting up.

"You have NOTHING to provide to this conversation, so just keep your mouth SHUT!"

"Y'see, I'd be inclined to follow your 'advice' if not for the fact that I actually _do_ have something to contribute."

"And what would THAT be?"

"How 'bout an answer to your problem?" Jady smiled as she opened the door and stepped out of the car, " _I_ can transform with that thing, so why don't _I_ go n' fight those Roid-things for you guys?"

"Oh don't make me _laugh_."

"I was under the impression that you _couldn't_."

"Should I remind you about your _humiliating performance_ out there?! We can bring up the footage if you want."

"Hey! It was my first time behind the wheel! I bet I can do better once I get used to it!"

"You wouldn't even last a SECOND out there against them."

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh YEAH?!"

"YEAH!"

"Would you two quit acting like 5 YEAR OLDS?!" Amber shouted over them, silencing them in an instant.

"It's always so loud here..." the belt commented to itself.

"Flynn...she's right."

"AMBER-"

" _Flynn_. We don't have a _choice_ at this point."

"BUT-"

"Flynn."

The lion hissed and stomped away, lashing his tail around behind him. It was then that Jady realized that the two of them had been walking towards each other during that entire exchange. As such, it didn't take very many steps for Amber to walk up to her. "Jady, if you're going to be doing this, you CAN'T tell anyone."

"Wait why-"

"PROMISE me, Jady." The panther let out a defeated sigh before giving her a solitary nod. "Good. Now, since we're gonna need you to actually land some hits, I'm going to have you train under Flynn."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Like I said, under Flynn," Amber went on, completely ignoring Flynn's shouts of protest, "He will teach you how to properly fight, and I'll teach you the things you need to know about using the Drive system." Had the need to listen carefully to Amber not been there, Jady's internalized squeals of glee most CERTAINLY wouldn't be...that. Thus, the ears of the other two furs were spared from the high pitched torture that was Jady's excitement.

"I can't believe I have to hand Drive over to someone like...HER." Flynn's turmoil was just the icing on her "Becoming a Straight-Up Superhero" cake at this point.

"Well," said Amber with a shrug, "If you want this to be quick and painless, then you guys might as well get started now!"


	3. Part 2

oOo DAY 1 oOo

"Come ON!" Flynn shouted, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for Jady to get back up on her feet, "Shrug it off and start again!"

"Yep! No problem!" Jady groaned as she clutched her stomach, "Just got decked in the gut! No biggie! Not like I need a minute or anything!"

oOo DAY 2 oOo

"So...that's what Drive was _supposed_ to look like, huh?" Jady asked as she looked upon the black-armored, blue-striped figure displayed on Amber's screen.

"Yup. I don't know what happened, but you somehow ended up altering Drive itself. Even changed the stripe color too... It's weird..."

"And you still have no clue how I did it?"

"Well, no. But I do have an idea on where things started going wrong." The Labrador then slipped out the device Jady had shoved into the bracelet. A 'Shift' thing, or something. "You used the wrong side of this."

"There were _sides_ to it?"

"That's right. Only one of them's for transforming."

"Well then what's the other side for?"

"...Menu navigation."

"...Oh."

oOo DAY 7 oOo

Stars flew through Jady's eyes as she hit the mat face first. She felt her head spin as she stumbled back up to her knees. "I told you to BLOCK that!" boomed Flynn's voice.

"YeeEEp... heArD you thE FIRst tIMe... Didn't _DO_ it thE fIrsT time..." Flynn shook his head and bounced on his heels, waiting for Jady to get her bearings.

oOo DAY 8 oOo

"Okay Jady, remember these terms. That way Flynn and I don't have to waste time explaining word for word each thing we're talking about. The slowing sensation that the Roidmudes-th-the robots, Jady." The panther nodded and resumed with taking notes. "The slowing ability they have is called 'Heavy Acceleration.' Now, when I say 'Driver,' I'm talking about the belt. When I say 'Shift Brace,' I'm talking about the bracelet on your wrist. When I say 'Shift Car," I'm talking about the device you shove into the Shift Brace."

"O-okay?" Jady glanced back and forth between the canine and the various devices strewn across the desk.

"When I tell you to 'Shift Up,' I'm telling you to crank the Shift Car on the Shift Brace."

"Hey, one sec. What's with all of the 'Shift' lingo anyways?"

"Easiest to explain, easiest to remember, and matches the car motif."

"Odd thing to point out..."

" _Focus,_ Jady."

oOo DAY 11 oOo

"Parry. Parry. Strike. Good. Again. Parry. Parry. Strike. Good." Jady felt like she was swiping at a fly as she waved her arms around as per Flynn's instructions.

"Hey, you _sure_ this will do anything against those guys?" she asked. An unamused chuff escaped Flynn's throat. "Hey, I'm not tryin' to be _rude_. Y'know? I just don't know what good all this arm waving 'll do."

"You want me to show you? Alright then." Flynn then stepped right in front of her. "Do the same thing you've been doing, this time on _me_."

A smile spread across Jady's muzzle. " _Alright_ , if you in-ACK." Jady flinched as the mountain lion's paw smacked her upside the head.

"I said parry."

oOo DAY 14 oOo

" _Mirage_?"

"Yup."

"That's such a _cool name_ for a car."

"Yup."

"Can it like...go invisible _like_ a mirage?"

"That's...not how mirages work, but yeah. This button right here."

"NO FRIGGIN WAY."

"Yup. It's got grappling hooks too. This button right here."

"SHUT UP!" Jady looked about ready to explode from sheer excitement at this point. "So when're you gonna teach me how to drive, anyways?"

"...Excuse me?"

oOo DAY 15 oOo

"More and more people are starting to disappear all over the city," said the chief, "Somehow, we _still_ aren't finding any connections to all of these disappearances." Jady's eyes were on where the other police officers' eyes were, which was the map spread across the board set behind the chief himself. "We're going to need more patrols all over, starting with this district."

"Attah," came a familiar voice, "Stop dozing off." Jady snapped back up and returned her gaze to her computer.

"Sorry sir. Won't happen again." She heard her boss grumble as he lumbered off somewhere else. As soon as he was gone, Jady leaned over to listen in on the meeting once more.

oOo DAY 16 oOo

"So until Jady can handle driving on her own, I'm going to need you to learn alongside her."

"W...wakarimashita...I understand, Amber-san..."

"Hey, y'know I just thought of something," Jady said, resting her paws atop the steering wheel, "This whole shebang reminds me of something me n' my dad used to watch on TV when I was little. It was about this guy that solved crimes with a high-tech talking car. Shoot, what was the name? It was _something_ Rider... Started with a 'K' I think..."

"Ano...was it...Kamen Rider?"

Jady shook her head. "No...no... Well, anyways, it got me thinking. We need to give you a name. I feel weird just calling you 'belt' all the time. The car in the show was named Kit, so y'know what? That's your new name now."

"...Kit?" the belt replied.

"If it means I don't have to constantly point out that I'm referring to an AI, I'm all for it," Amber nodded.

"Kit..." it repeated one more time. The face on the belt formed somewhat of a smile. "I...I like it. Arigato-ah-iie. Th-thank you very much for the name, Jady-san. I like it very much."

"De nada," Jady replied with a smile.

"Jady, that's Spanish."

"Just let me have this."

oOo DAY 18 oOo

"PARRY! PARRY! STRIKE! PARRY! PARRY! STRIKE!" Loud THWAPS rang through the air each time Flynn's arms were swatted away. "GOOD! PARRY! PARRY! STRIKE-"

"Oh my god!" Jady shouted, "You actually gave me _positive feedback_! It's a MIRACLE-OUCH." Jady massaged her now stinging cheek.

"AGAIN. FROM THE TOP." Jady grumbled to herself as they resumed in their exchange.

oOo DAY 26 oOo

"Wait for it..." Jady's grip tightened around the steering wheel as Mirage sped down the racetrack. "Wait for it... HIT THE BRAKES!" Just like Amber had instructed her, Jady slammed her foot down on the brake pedal and made a hard turn, flinging the vehicle into a drift. Mirage sounded like some sort of imaginary beast as its tires' screeches filled the air. Jady felt Kit's aid kick in as they reached the end of the turn, with the engine roaring to life before her foot even touched the pedal, and Mirage itself lining back up with the road quicker than Jady could ever manage to do on her own. Adrenaline rushed through her system as they raced down the track and shot past the finish line.

"EXCELLENT job, you two! Seems you guys are getting the hang of things. You're getting faster and faster by the second!"

"Y'here that, Kit?! We make for an awesome team! If I knew where your hand was, I'd TOTALLY high-five you right now!"

"But Amber-san said you should always have both hands on the wheel-"

" _I know, I know~_ "

"Okay guys, one more lap, then we'll start practice with the Gatling gun."

"WHOO! Alright Kit, c'mon! Top gear, let's go!"

oOo DAY 29 oOo

"You've got this Jady, come on!" Amber clapped the armored panther on as she struggled against a digital opponent.

"You're sagging again!" barked Flynn, "Keep those arms up!"

"Shift Up! Shift Up!" Amber shouted at Jady as she fumbled away from her opponent.

"Shift wha-OH!" As soon as it clicked for her, Jady turned the key on her belt and cranked the Shift Car on her brace three times in a row.

 **SPE-SPE-SPECIAL!**

Jolts of electricity surged through her body, filling her with energy that she unleashed on her adversary in a flurry of lightning-fast punches. Her opponent was reduced to nothing but pixilated dust by the time she was done. Invigorated by her victory, she pumped her fist into the air. "And THAT'S how you toss a salad!"

"...n...nanda-"

"It's an expression, Kit."

"Not one that _I've_ heard of!"

"Could do without the _sass_ , Amber! Now come on, let's keep going! I'm on a roll here!"

* * *

With an entire month having passed by, all of Jady's hard work and training was beginning to pay off. Though it had been a large learning curve to overcome, the panther had managed to get a solid grasp on how to fully utilize the armor (or "Drive" as everyone kept calling it). She had yet to master everything, but she had certainly come a long way from fumbling around like a dunce during her first days.

"So do you guys mind telling me why we drove out to the ice rink?" Jady asked, looking between the two of them as they led her towards the seemingly abandoned building.

"Coming here will help you learn how to control Drive at high speeds," Amber explained, "When you reach a certain speed, the way your feet move and glide across the ground will feel similar to skating on ice."

"Okay, but why couldn't I just practice _as Drive_? I mean, I'm not complaining; this'll probably be the most fun I've had with training ever since we started." Flynn huffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm _kiiiiidiiiiiing_. Well, kind of. Not really. Punching really fast is fun. But it's not a lot of fun running around-"

" _We_...need to give Kit a break," the Lab cut in, placing her paw on Jady's shoulder, "It takes a lot of processing power to maintain Drive, and we'll need that power in case a Roidmude shows up and attacks us out of nowhere."

"Is he gonna be okay just waiting there all by himself?" Jady asked, looking back over her shoulder at Mirage, which was parked off to the side.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, he's plugged into the car, so if he gets lonely, he can turn on the radio, or even call us if he gets that upset."

"Now if you're quite done wasting _time_ , we've got work to do." Flynn stalked ahead of the two females and motioned to one of the doors. "Ice skates are in there. Once you find the right size, come back out. I'm gonna unlock the rink's entrance and make sure the rink itself is ready to use." As he stormed off, Jady glanced over to Amber, who only offered a shrug. In around half an hour, the trio was standing in the rink on their skates.

Jady's heart flew up to her throat as her foot suddenly shot forward. She flailed her arms around as she fought against gravity to regain her balance. Her salvation came in the form of Amber, who held her up to keep her from falling. "Phew...thanks, Ambs. Man, this alwAYS looks easier on TV..."

"It's not that hard, actually. You just need to give yourself time to adjust. Kind of like riding a bike, actually."

"Well at least with bIKES you get to use training wheELS!"

Amber tugged Jady back upright. "I guess riding a bike isn't the best example... Maybe more like driving a _motorcycle_? At least there, you're already familiar with riding a bike."

"And whAT would the perverbIAL bike be with ice skating?"

"I dunno... Walking...I guess?"

"Since when does walking involve slIDING?!"

"Haven't you ever put socks on around a wooden floor?"

"Are you two SERIOUSLY still spouting your nonsense?!" Flynn scoffed as he skidded to a stop in front of them, "I _really_ can't believe you two. The Roidmudes have finally shown up, and you guys are just acting like it's another Thursday. _Jady_ , I understand, but _Amber_?"

"Hey, Cool it, Flynn," Amber snapped, pointing a finger at him, "I'm letting Jady get used to how the ice feels first. We can't train her if she doesn't even know how to stay upright."

"I think I gotoooOOOH! NO I don't!"

"Amber, we don't have time to WASTE! The Roidmudes are on the move and we need Drive to be able to fight them!"

"I _know_ that, Flynn! So why don't you stop wasting our time with all of this _arguing_?!"

"You are NOT taking this SERIOUSLY ENOUGH, AMBER!"

"And YOU need to CALM DOWN!"

With a sharp snarl, the mountain lion whirled around and sulked off, leaning forward as he dashed all the way to the other side of the rink. After tapping the wall with a paw, he pushed himself off of it and shot towards the rink's opposite end. He did this again and again each time he tagged a wall, never once letting his gaze wander over to the two females all the while.

" _Yeeeesh_ ," said Jady, "He's blown up on me before, but that was somethin' else... Where did _that_ come from?"

Amber sighed and shook her head, massaging the bridge of her snout between her fingers. "It's not as personal as you might think. It goes way back to when the Roidmudes went from a project to a problem."

"You mean like...when he was training to be Drive?"

Amber shook her head again. "Even before that..." Jady pressed her lips together as she waited for her to elaborate. Amber watched Flynn furiously skate across the rink as she began her recollection. "I'm willing to bet that Flynn hasn't told you the whole story; he's closed off like that. So I guess now's a good a time as any to tell you the reason why he was so insistent on becoming Drive. The thing is...he and his family have a closer connection to the Roidmudes than you might think."

"Heh, what do you mean? Did his family build them in their garage, or something?" The Lab chose not to answer her. "...Oh..."

"Flynn's mom and I were pretty close friends in college, so I was the only one they let in outside of the family to work on their little family project. And because of that...I was around to see everything go completely wrong... As you can probably guess...things didn't turn out so great by the end of it all. Before Flynn...lost his parents, they told him that he had to find a way to stop the Roidmudes. With him being part of the family that had made them in the first place, it was only natural for him to come to the conclusion that he, and _only_ he, would have the knowledge and resources necessary to bring them down."

"...Woah... Talk about heavy..."

Amber nodded slowly. "And I can't say that I blame him... If a bunch of robots that I created suddenly killed my family, odds are that I'd want a little revenge myself..." Jady watched Flynn skate, and for the first time, she felt like she was looking at a completely different person. She couldn't see an anal, pompous slave-driver in him anymore, but instead a troubled, heartbroken and lonely man. Now she _fully_ understood why he was so against her being Drive. She hadn't just taken away his chance to be a hero; she had taken away his chance at rectifying the loss of his family.

"I'm...gonna try 'n talk to him," she said as she carefully skated towards the rink's closest end. "Hey...uhhh...Flynn?" Even after grinding to a halt in front of her and ricocheting tiny flakes of ice right into her face, Flynn acted as though he hadn't noticed her and skated back to the other side of the rink. "Pffffft, c-come on, Flynn, pppppffffffft, I-I just wanna chat real quick! Pfffffffft. A little heart-to-heart? With the mentor and the student?!"

Her heart skipped ten beats as Flynn powered towards her, only to come to an abrupt halt right in front of her. She quickly took a step back out of instinct, only to remember that she was still on ice. Before her face could become too well acquainted with the floor, Flynn grabbed her by the paw and yanked her back upright. "What?" he asked in a cold tone.

Jady had to take a moment to recompose herself. "Listen, Amber told me about your whole... _situation_...and-" She stopped as Flynn chuffed and rolled his eyes.

"If you're here to pity me, then you can forget it."

"No, I-" Before she could finish, Flynn shot off once again. She glared at him from afar as she dusted off more ice flakes off of her coat. "Flynn, come on! I'm tryin' to have a tender moment with you here!"

Again, Flynn stopped _just_ in front of Jady, coming back with the same death-like-stare that he always seemed to carry around with him. "Save it. Okay? If you wanna try and make me feel better, then get to training already."

"Yeah, but-" Once again, the mountain lion shot off before she could get another word in. The way he was making her blood boil made Jady wonder if she was going to start melting all of the ice around her. "Flynn, would you just let me TALK to you?!"

This time, when Flynn skid to a stop in front of her, Jady met his glare with the same intensity that he gave off. "So what, you can start telling me about how _sorry_ you are for taking away my chance at redemption? So you can start telling me how you're going to start trying harder? So that you can start telling me about how great of a Drive you're going to be?"

"Y'know if you stopped constantly _criticizing_ me, you'd start noticing the things I'm getting _better_ at!"

"Oh I _notice_. But I also notice how _little_ your improvements are, and how _long_ it takes for them to happen."

"You still don't think I can do this for you, DO YOU?!"

"You haven't proved me wrong otherwise."

"I'm GOING to get better!"

"And how soon will it be that you get _good enough_?"

" _SOON enough_! Heck, maybe even NOW! I've been doing GREAT these past few days!"

"GREAT. Isn't GOOD ENOUGH."

"GUYS!" Once again, Amber's voice served as their argument-ender. Though both of them anticipated yet another scolding, the worried look she had written all over her face said otherwise. "Kit just called! He said that there's a Roidmude nearby! And it's out in the open!"

Flynn's eyes widened upon this revelation. "PERFECT!" shouted Jady as she skated forward, "This was JUST the opportunity I was looking for! Now to show Flynn that I can ABSOLUTELY do this!"

"Absolutely NOT."

"Are you KIDDING ME, FLYNN?!"

"No, Jady. I'm not."

"One of them's OUT THERE! NEARBY! You really want me to just sit around and let it abduct someone?!"

"With you the way you are? It's no question."

"Flynn, COME ON!"

"NO. Jady. You're not going."

"Why?! Cuz' I'm not READY?!"

"Jady, Flynn's right."

Jady whirled around to face the Lab. "You TOO?!"

"Jady, you need to understand... You _still_ don't have a full grasp on how to operate Drive-"

"Why do NONE of you believe in me?! Haven't you been watching me improve?!"

"Jady-"

"I. CAN. DO THIS. Just let me try! I mean you're not even giving me a CHANCE here!" Before the argument could escalate any further, an invisible force swept through the ice rink and blew the three of them off of their feet. However, before any of them could hit the ground, the world around them slowed to a stop, suspending them all in the air. Though it took Jady a moment to realize, both Flynn and Amber already knew what was going on. Wherever the Roidmude was, it was close enough to hit them with Heavy Acceleration. Their minds all raced at the thought of a Roidmude attacking them then and there, with none of them able to retaliate whatsoever.

Rather than that happening, something zipped through the air and landed in Jady's paw. She suddenly lurched from her frozen state and hit the ice with a loud thump. She groaned as a dull ache emanated from her head. She pushed herself upright to find the Shift Car in her grasp. Looking between it and the other frozen furs, she shakily clawed back up to her feet and said, "Sorry guys, but I'm taking this chance. Watch! You're BOTH gonna see!" In a less than graceful manner, Jady skated her way out of the rink and ran out of the building, hopping into the Mirage's driver's seat.

"Jady-san!" Kit exclaimed, "Did you-"

"I know, Kit!" she cut him off as she strapped her seatbelt on, "Let's hurry and go!"

"B-but wait, w-where are the others?!"

"Just don't worry about it!" she shouted over him as she grabbed him off of his rack on the car.

"H-hai! Henshin shi-ah-l-let's transform then!"

After slapping him onto her waist, the belt snaked around her body and latched the Driver onto herself securely. In the same motion, she turned the Driver's key, jammed the Shift Car into her Shift Brace and Shifted Up.

 **DRIVE! TYPE: SPECIAL!**

With a bright flash and a loud crescendo, Jady's armor flashed into existence and clamped onto her. Her user interface flared to life and threw a map at her, pinpointing a location with a bright, blinking-red dot.

"Alright, Kit!" Jady shouted, feeling her adrenaline pump through her veins, "Let's get our first REAL mission STARTED!"

"HAI! IKIMASHOU!" The sounds of Mirage's tires screeching ripped through the air before it shot off from the parking lot and onto the open road.

* * *

The Roidmude perked its head as it heard the sounds of an engine roar in the distance. Readjusting the fur it had slung over its shoulder, it looked over to its fellow Roidmude, who _also_ had a fur of its own in its grasp. They exchanged knowing looks as the engine sounds grew closer and closer. It was only a matter of time before Mirage screeched to a halt and Jady stepped out with a bounce to her step.

"Two Roidmudes, two hostages!" said Kit as Jady's UI highlighted both Roidmudes in red. One was marked with a 64 whilst the other was marked with a 70.

"Take this one to Heart!" shouted 70 as it handed one of the hostages over to 64, " _I'll_ deal with HER!" As 64 fled the scene, 70 came running at Jady. The panther's adrenaline levels spiked up as the Roidmude closed in on her.

 _ParryparryhitParryparryhitParryparryhit!_ Jady repeated this to herself over and over until the Roidmude finally swung at her. Taking her lessons to heart, Jady swatted the offending arm away from herself, slapped it further away with her other arm and SLAMMED her fist into the Roidmude's face with her first arm. The android REELED from the blow and stumbled away from her, granting her a moment to celebrate her victory.

"Jady-san! The other Roidmude is getting away!"

"Roger!" Jady shouted as she broke into a mad dash. Before she could get too far, 70 grabbed her by the shoulders and FLUNG her back the other way. After regaining her balance, Jady huffed in frustration and flicked her wrists. "Ok, that's it; _you_ need to go, sir!" The Roidmude ran up to her and grabbed her by the wrists in an effort to restrain her. Jady's mind raced as alarms blared in her ears. "K-Kit! Could you maybe turn down the volume on that thing?!"

"I-I don't know how!"

"Oh for the love of-" Cutting herself off, Jady threw her head back before BASHING it against the Roidmude's with a resounding crack. She did this again and again until both the alarm and the Roidmude's grip slackened. A sharp shoulder-check was all it took to get the android to release her.

"Quick! Shift Up while you can!"

"uHUh..." Feeling lightheaded from the blows, Jady turned the Driver's key and slapped her paw over the Shift Car, cranking it three times in a row.

 **SPE-SPE-SPECIAL!**

Jady threw form and grace to the wind as she battered the Roidmude with a barrage of lightning-fast punches. The final blow threw it into the air and against a nearby wall. As it fell back down to Earth, Jady began to feel a sense of pride well up inside of her. She was right; she really _had_ made progress! The way she was handling this was PROOF of that! The prospect of returning to Amber and Flynn with this knowledge filled her with excitement and giddiness.

Her back tensed up as 70 climbed back up to its feet. She splayed out her arms and braced herself as the Roidmude rushed back in for a retaliation. But just before she could perform a counter-attack, a loud ring in her ears distracted her long enough for 70 to land a hit on her chest. She grunted as she SLAMMED into the ground and rolled, tossing her arm out to her side to get herself to finally stop spinning.

"It's Amber-san!" said Kit, "Don't worry, I'll answer it!"

"N-no, wait-"

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?!" Amber's voice blared in her ears, "I can't BELIEVE you left us here to do EXACTLY what we told you _not_ to do!"

"Can we...maybe do this some other time? I'm _kind of_ in the middle of something."

"Jady-san! Look out!" Jady threw her head up in time to see the Roidmude barreling towards her. With a panicked yelp, she threw herself to the side and narrowly avoided the android's mad dash.

"Jady, GET OUT OF THERE. NOW," Amber demanded as Jady scrambled back up to her feet.

"NO! I'm gonna show you guys that I can do this!"

"You'll TRY and you'll FAIL!" barked Flynn, "Listen to us and RETREAT! BEFORE you hurt yourself!"

Jady snarled bitterly and looked back and forth between the Roidmude and the car. With fists trembling with rage, the armored panther turned heel and rushed over to the Mirage, slamming the door behind her as she landed in the driver's seat. Mirage's tires screeched before it shot back onto the road and sped away. At that moment, relief washed over Amber and Flynn like a wave of the ocean.

"As IF!"

Those calm waves of relief were washed away as waves of shock crashed onto their shores. Without warning, Jady swung the car around and rocketed through the streets, returning to her original spot in a mere moment and speeding past the Roidmude. Before Amber and Flynn could scream in her ears, Jady ended their call with the press of a button.

"Jady-san, what are you doing?! Why aren't you listening to Amber-san and Flynn-san?!"

"Forget it, Kit! I'm not gonna let them decide how I be a hero!"

"B-but-"

"Enough with the buts! You saw what we could do out there! We can take those guys!"

"B-but they're right; you're putting yourself in danger!"

"Didn't I tell you to read up on superheroes?!"

"Y-you told me to watch some TV shows!"

"This is what superheroes do, Kit! They throw themselves into danger! They do things they think are right, even if others think it's wrong!" Kit went silent as he processed this line, unsure of how to react to it. His thoughts were interrupted as Jady gasped, "Hey, there he is!" Kit's focused returned to the moment at hand, and he saw through Jady's eyes the Roidmude that had ran off with both hostages slung over its shoulders. "Kit, help me block this guy off!"

"H-hai!" With his help, Jady swerved the car around before slamming on the brakes, causing Mirage to drift to a stop and block off the Roidmude's path.

"Alright, you friend-by-numbers-freak," Jady shouted as she leapt out of the car, "you let those people go, and I MIGHT just let you off with a warning!"

"How about _instead_ ," 64 began, slowly backing away step by step, "I do THIS?!" Without further warning, the Roidmude lunged its head forward and spat a wad of goo at her. Jady tried to dive to the side, but the goo suddenly splayed out and fell onto the ground, forming a sticky web that trapped Jady in her tracks. She growled as she struggled to free herself, growing more desperate and frantic as she saw 64 make another break for it.

"Kit! Think of something!"

"Ano..." Kit paused as he brainstormed for an idea, "T-try Shifting Up again! If you vibrate your body at such a high speed, you should..." Jady didn't listen to the rest as she turned the Driver's key and Shifted Up three times in a row.

 **SPE-SPE-SPECIAL!**

Jolts of electricity ran up and down her body again, making her fur beneath her suit stand up on end. With no time to waste, she tugged and pulled at her entangled feet, growing faster and faster with each tug. By the time her legs became nothing but a blur, the webs she was stuck to were torn apart and shredded to pieces. Jady shot off like a bullet and SLAMMED into 64 before it could disappear from her sight. The impact sent both hostages flying into the air, only to hang there frozen as the Heavy Acceleration caught up to them. Discovering this upon a screeching halt, Jady kicked off of her heels and made a beeline for the falling fur.

"WATCH OUT!" A red flashing arrow accompanied Kit's warning, pointing to and highlighting another splat of goo flying towards her. Left with nothing but her instincts, Jady flung herself into the air and JUMPED up, flying over the goo as it splayed out into a spider-web and right into one of the falling hostages. Spreading her arms out, Jady caught the hostage and landed safely on the ground. Rather than impacting the ground though, Jady's feet drifted down it as the words "High Speed" blinked in her eyes. Her mind briefly flashed back to earlier in the day, when the group had gone to the ice rink. She quickly put it together that THIS was what she had been training for today.

Oh how she wished for more training time, as she had NO clue how to put a stop to this. Her feet were still gliding over the ground with no signs of slowing down, filling her with a sense of dread. "K-KIT?!" she exclaimed, "How the heck do I STOP this thing?!"

"Ano..." Kit's voice trembled with panic.

"Kit, I don't have AIR BAGS on me!"

"A...a-s-SKATES! Treat it like SKATES!"

With only mere MOMENTS left to stop herself from slamming into a wall, Jady kicked both of her feet out and threw them to the sides. Loud screeching filled her ears as the invisible force carrying them on began to slow. A scream escaped her throat as they sped closer and closer to the deadly-solid brick wall in front of them. Her heart skipped ten beats as they came to an abrupt halt INCHES away from the wall. It took Jady nearly all she had in her to not have her legs give out on her then and there. Her heart continued to beat a mile a minute as she and Kit cooled down from their high.

"...Kit?"

"...Yeah?"

"...I don't think I like High Speed..."

"...Agreed..."

Mirage screeched to a halt in front of them, and its doors swung open for them. With a huff, Jady lowered the rescuee into the passenger's seat. As she did this, it suddenly dawned on her that this fur was in fact a _person_ , and _not_ the statue that he was unwillingly impersonating at the moment. Jady felt the sudden urge to speak up and say something heroic.

"Ahem-n-No need to thank me, sir," she stammered before straightening herself up, deepening her voice mid-sentence, "I'm just doin' my job. And don't worry, we'll be taking you to safety-"

"Jady-san," Kit whispered, "There's still one more hostage left."

"OH-SHOOT-OK-SEE-YOU-DUDE!" Jady shouted at the rescuee before slamming the door in his face. Mirage's engine roared before it shot off into the distance, taking the rescuee far away from here. As it disappeared from sight, Jady felt pride begin to well up inside of herself again. She DID it! She actually RESCUED someone! She'd rescued her first hostage! She WAS good enough to do this! And she was CERTAINLY good enough to do this AGAIN! With that in mind, Jady turned around and-

stopped dead in her tracks.

Out in the distance, someone stood beside 64. It WASN'T 70. In fact, it WASN'T even a Roidmude, at least not one that _she_ recognized. It had a crimson red carapace, thick, golden horns atop its head, but most importantly, it had the other hostage cradled in its arms.

"...Kit?" Jady muttered after finding where her voice had went, "...Can you call Amber back?"

"H...hai..." In a matter of seconds, the call was answered.

"...Guys?" Jady began, unable to stop her voice from trembling, "...Who and what is that?"

"...I don't know..." was Amber's answer. Jady's heart began to hammer. She didn't know?

"...Flynn?"

"...I...don't...either..."

To say that Jady was worried would've been the understatement of the year. NEITHER of them knew what this thing was?! The ones that MADE the Roidmudes and MADE the Drive system were CLUELESS?!

The newcomer stared back at Jady, not moving an inch as she stared back at it. It almost seemed as though it was...waiting for her... Just... _watching_ her. Jady suddenly realized that she was holding her breath and hastily released it.

"Here," it said to 64 as it turned to the Roidmude, "hold onto our new friend. I'm going to have a little _chat_ with the troublemaker..." The red-shelled one gingerly handed the hostage over to 64 before returning its attention to Jady. "SO then!" it shouted to her, making her heart leap, "There WAS truth to the rumors my friends were telling me. There indeed _is_ someone out there like us... Tell me, friend; what's your name?"

"This guy's supposed to be a Roidmude too?" Jady muttered under her breath. She clenched her fist tightly and shuffled her weight between her heels. "W-what's it to _you_?" This made the newcomer shake his head in disappointment.

"So you have a bit of _attitude_ to you? I can see that this will be harder than I thought... Very well... _I_ will begin the introductions..." Slowly, he spread his arms out, holding up his hands as though he were about to proclaim something to the heavens. "Hello, friend. It's nice to finally meet you. You can call me what all of my friends call me; Heart."

The force of a train hitting her couldn't possibly measure up to how hard Jady's stomach dropped upon hearing the name.

She jolted violently as both Flynn and Amber SCREAMED at her to get away. To run. To hide. To be anywhere but _here_. But how _could_ she? There was still one more hostage left to rescue. On top of that, she was face to face with the one giving orders to all of the Roidmudes. This was the ULTIMATE chance to prove her worth! Her initial wariness was suddenly replaced with courage as she stared Heart down through her mask.

"You know, friend," Heart went on, "learning about someone who's like my friends and I would _normally_ please me. _Very much so_ , in fact. Having more people to befriend is always pleasant to know about. But...I'm afraid I can't rejoice just yet...because you've done something that _greatly_ upsets me. Do you know what that is?"

It took Jady a minute to realize that he was legitimately asking her a question. "...Uhh...I dunno... I have a feeling that you're gonna tell me, though."

Heart let out a laugh. "A jokester too... I think I'm starting to like you... Oh...but sadly, what you've done...what you've _been_ doing...is not so easy to overlook. _You_ , my friend, have been preventing us from making _new_ friends. Even going so far as to hurt some of our _current_ friends. Please...tell me _why_. WHY must you do something so _horrible_?"

Jady suddenly felt the need to fold her arms and stand with a more heroic posture. She did this as she gave her answer. "Well, if you _must_ know-"

"JADY!" barked Flynn, "Stop acting so stupid and GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Aw _come on,_ Flynn. He's doin' the whole super-villain monologue thing n' I wanna take _my_ turn."

"That is singlehandedly the STUPIDEST thing I've heard in my entire life!"

"Jady-san, I think you should _listen_ to them!"

"Nah, it's _fine_ , Kit. I've got this." Jady did her best to mute everyone else out in her head as she went on, "Listen, Heart, I don't know how you robots do things, but taking people against their friggin will isn't something that I'm cool with."

Heart let out a sigh of satisfaction, a response that she...hadn't _entirely_ expected. "An understandable point. It's only natural for someone not yet part of my Paradise to feel that way. If all of our friends knew what it had to offer, there would be FAR less struggling, I assure you."

"Paradise?" Jady repeated. This seemed to excite the red-shelled robot.

"YES! My Paradise! I discovered it some time ago, and ever since, I've wanted to share it with everyone that I could! In fact, I wish to share it with the WHOLE WORLD! My friends and I try to share it with everyone we come across, but...because of our appearances...it's hard for the people we wish to bring in to trust our words." Heart let out a gloomy sigh as he began to pace around the street. "All we want to do is make more friends... Friends that we can share our Paradise with..."

Jady blinked. "...Okay...not as sinister as I was expecting... So where is this Paradise?"

Heart whirled around to face her. "You mean you wish to see it for yourself?!"

"NO!" barked Flynn.

"Jady think about what you're doing!" shouted Amber.

"...Yeah," Jady replied after her ears stopped ringing, "Sure. You've got me curious now. I wanna see if it's all you're talking it up to be."

"And...I agree as well..." Kit spoke up, much to the surprise of Jady and the others, "In my time researching living beings, I've learned of the wariness that comes from approaching something unknown... It...makes a lot of sense..." Hearing this seemed to fill Heart with glee. There was a skip to his step as he circled the street over and over again.

"Oh this makes me feel so _happy_!" he exclaimed before spreading his arms out and approaching the panther, "Now come to me! Allow me to take you to Paradise!"

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Jady held her hands up and backpedaled from Heart's sudden advance, "No need to get any closer! You lead n' I'll follow!"

Heart stopped in his tracks. "Oh how silly, friend. I can't show you my Paradise if you don't get any _closer_."

"What?"

"Oh! I know! You merely require a demonstration! 64! Bring our new friend over to me! Quickly!" The Roidmude with the hostage still in its arms nodded and began to approach Heart.

"H-hey-HEY!" Jady shouted, taking a tentative step forward, "What are you gonna do with her?!"

"Oh don't worry!" Heart shouted back with unnervingly giddy excitement, "I'm just going to make her my friend!" Once 64 arrived with the hostage in tow, Heart wiggled his fingers and looked around. "Oh but I don't have my plethora or parts to do this... Oh, _this_ will do nicely." He then hurried over to a nearby parked car and SLAMMED his fist through it. Jady's gut sank as she watched him reduce the vehicle to a pile of scrap metal in a matter of minutes.

"S-seriously, what are you-"

"Don't worry! I'm almost done!" After one final swing, Heart whirled back around to face 64 and the hostage again. The crimson Roidmude looked down at the fur's frozen, horror filled face and traced a finger along it. "Don't worry, friend; you'll feel better soon. I promise." Jady's gut dropped lower than it had ever dropped before as a gut-wrenching shriek filled the air. A light began to burn between Heart and the hostage, and Heart began to tug his hand away. All at once, the screaming ceased, the light faded, and Heart threw his arm back. Again, Jady released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as Heart turned away from the hostage. Just as she began to question this in her head, the Roidmude holding her set her down and left her behind. Her mind was racing as she began to fear for the worst. Had they just...KILLED her?!

"Almost done! Almost done!" Heart called to Jady. She truly _hoped_ this was almost done! Her bowels were already threatening to empty its contents out into the world. With the hostage all but abandoned, Heart and the Roidmude turned their attention over to the pile of broken down car-parts. As Heart looked upon the pile, he held something up in his hand. "Almost there, friend," he whispered to it, "I just need to give you a body..." Without making any haste, he tossed the unseen object into the pile. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening, but that all changed within the next few seconds. The pile of scrap metal suddenly _convulsed_ and _throbbed_ , expanding and contracting like a giant metal lung. Bits of metal flew everywhere as the pile became more and more condensed. Jady felt the blood in her face begin to drain away as she finally realized what was going on. She didn't want to believe it, but as limbs began to take shape, she knew she couldn't deny it.

When at last, the pile stopped convulsing, metal shells fell away to reveal the Roidmude buried within. Heart laughed with joy, admiring his creation with widespread arms. " _Welcome to Paradise,_ my friend! We shall call you...81..." True to his word, after brushing away some dirt from the Roidmude's chest, he etched the numbers "081" into its chest plate. 64 suddenly began to applaud as Heart planted both of his hands on 81's shoulders. "You're safe now, friend! You're part of our Paradise! Rejoice!"

As if by command, 81 jerked to life and rested its hands atop Heart's arms. "Th-the fear... It's all gone! It's GONE! Th-THANK YOU, HEART! I'll forever be grateful!"

"You needn't thank me, my dear friend. I'm just happy that I finally got to share my Paradise with you... And speaking of..." Jady's heart all but stopped as Heart turned around to face her. "Did you see that, friend? I brought her into our Paradise! I made her my friend! Isn't that GREAT?!"

The very concept of "great" was _far_ from Jady's mind at this point. The only things she _could_ process at this point were fear, anger and disgust. Fear over the realization of what this all meant, anger over having allowed this to happen, and disgust as she looked onto the still, motionless body of who 81 _used_ to be.

"Well?" came Heart's voice again, "You haven't said anything yet. What do you think, friend? I've turned this unhappy, mortal woman into an immortal, _blissfully_ happy being like _myself_! Isn't that the most wonderful thing you've ever seen?!"

"I..." Jady found it hard to put her thoughts to words. This all just felt so wrong. Why do something like this? Why were they all so HAPPY over this?! Without realizing it, she began to clench her fists to the point that they were trembling. "I... _don't_..."

Heart seemed to take a moment to process this. "...What?"

"This...this is WRONG!" she shouted with more intensity, "This...this is ALL WRONG! Are ALL of these Roidmudes your...your 'FRIENDS'?!"

"I-I don't understand..." Heart's voice began to tremble, "You...you _don't_ think this is a good thing? You don't... _agree_ with me?"

"N-NO! Are you kidding me?! Why would I agree with something like...like _this_?!"

"W-wait, Jady-san, I'm confused. Why don't you agree?"

Jady's heart couldn't have pounded harder in her chest than it had from hearing that. "...Kit?" The AI's response didn't make her feel any better.

"That person is happier now, right? So doesn't that make it all okay?"

"N-no, Kit, you don't understand-"

"YES!" boomed Heart, making Jady jolt violently, "See? SEE? _HE_ gets it! Oh I was so confused at first when you started talking to yourself, but now I see! You are not alone, friend! You brought _another_ friend with you! Oh it all makes SENSE now! Why you move like us! It's because of that belt! It lets you move like us because it _IS_ one of us!"

Jady felt ready to go into cardiac arrest at this point. Much like her world, her mind was spinning out of control. Kit couldn't be one of those things... Could he?

"I KNOW!" boomed Heart's voice again, startling Jady out of her fear-frozen state, "I-I just have to make you my friend too! That-that way you can understand TOO! Yes! That's it! Just like all the rest!" The second Heart took one step forward, Jady took ten steps backwards. "No, don't worry! You'll see too! 64! 81! Grab her so that I can make her our new friend!"

"As you wish, Heart!" Almost like a magic spell, Jady's feet froze in place as Heart's orders were given.

"JADY! RUN!" shrieked Amber.

"Get OUT OF THERE JADY!" screamed Flynn. Somehow, she had forgotten the two of them were even there.

"W-wait, hold on," said Kit, "Maybe we should let them do this! It-It might be alright-"

"You shut your MOUTH, you NO GOOD ROIDMUDE!" Flynn screamed with nothing but pure hatred for the AI. "Haven't you ruined ENOUGH LIVES ALREADY?!" So many noises were blaring in Jady's ears that she could barely hear herself think. All she could hear was Flynn screaming at Kit, Amber screaming at Flynn, Flynn screaming at _her_ , the alarms warning her of-

Just as she realized what those alarms meant, she felt a par of arms grab onto one of her own. Jady YANKED her arm away and frantically scrambled backwards, only to stumble right into the other Roidmude. It seized her up in a full-nelson that kept her from moving any further. "Quick! Heart! Before she gets away!"

With adrenaline SURGING through her veins, Jady thrashed around until the Roidmude's hold finally gave way. As soon as she was free, Jady whirled around and CLOCKED the Roidmude in the head with a swing of her fist. "Ch-chotto matte kudasai, Jady-san!" shouted Kit, "Why are you struggling? Shouldn't we give them a chance?" Jady's head was far too occupied to be able to come up with anything to say to the AI. So she fought on as her life _very well_ depended on it.

81 tried to grab her wrist and was promptly met with a kick to the arm. 64 tried to grab at her from behind again, but she quickly caught on to him and jammed her foot in its gut. As the Roidmude staggered back, Jady whirled around and RAMMED her knee into 81 with as much force as she could muster. Both Roidmudes quickly recovered and lunged at her for another grab attempt. Not left with much space to react, Jady resorted to JAMMING her shoulder guard into the chest of 64. Sparks flew off of the Roidmude as it staggered backwards, granting Jady the space she needed to slip by 81 before it could grab ahold of her.

" **ENOUGH!** " Jady froze up like a deer in headlights as she looked up and saw Heart BARRELING towards her at full speed. Lights danced in her eyes as Heart's body PLOWED into her, _rocking_ her body with pain. Jady flew across the pavement, tumbling and sprawling across it until she finally rolled to a stop.

"JADY-SAN!" Kit screamed, "D-DAIJOBU DESUKA?!" For a moment, it seemed as though Jady's head was catching up with the rest of her, as she merely stared up at the sky from where she lay. Everything was hurting now, a diagram showing the areas where her armor had cracked was flashing in her eyes. "Jady-san! JADY-SAN! OY! Shikkari shiro!" Suddenly, she regained her senses and rolled over to her front. As she craned her neck up, she saw Heart _trembling_ with fury.

" **STOP HURTING MY FRIENDS!** " he boomed, taking a complete shift from the soothing smooth talker he had been mere moments ago, " **Just LISTEN to me and let me make you my FRIEND!** "

"Jady-san, abunai!" Jady found it in herself to frantically claw back up to her feet as Heart came running at her full speed. She managed to bring her arms up _just_ in time to block an overhead swing aimed at her head, but the impact still sent shockwaves through her entire body. However, Heart remained relentless in his assault and kept throwing his weight at her with swing after swing. "Jump away!" Kit shouted. Jady trusted his judgement and ducked beneath a swing before backpedaling away from Heart as fast as she could. She instantly regretted not looking back, however, as her arms were caught in the iron-clad grip of the Roidmudes. Jady grunted and yelped as she tried to tug herself free, but her arms simply wouldn't budge.

Panic racked her body with every step Heart took towards her. With a guttural roar, Heart FLUNG his fist forward and SMASHED it against Jady's torso. All at once, the air CLAPPED, her armor CRACKED, and a wave of pain RIPPLED outwards from her chest. She didn't even register the shriek of pain she had let out from the blow. Her punishment was far from over, it seemed, as a second blow soon SMASHED against her frame. Then a third. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. More and more. Each pummeling her body with intense, radiating pain. Diagrams showing her the extent of her injuries flashed in her eyes, and even more showed just how close her armor was to breaking apart completely.

"Heart-san! Please stop this!" Kit screamed in horror, "You're HURTING HER!"

"THEN THIS WILL TEACH HER TO NEVER HURT MY FRIENDS AGAIN!" Heart screamed back, not easing up on the panther in the slightest.

"J-JADY-SAN! PLEASE TRY AND BREAK FREE! THIS IS MORE THAN THE ARMOR CAN TAKE!" Jady was far from being able to respond; the immense amount of pain she was experiencing from this beating was just too much for her. With everyone so focused on the moment at hand, no one noticed the loud roar of Mirage's engine. By the time Heart noticed that it was racing towards them, he was already flying through the air after the car's back end swept around and SLAMMED against him.

Finally freed from his punishment, Jady fell limp and hung by her arms which were still stubbornly held onto by the Roidmudes. Forced to take action himself, Kit swerved Mirage back around to crash its side against 64. Though the impact struck Jady as well, it produced the desired effect and freed her from both of the Roidmudes' grasps. As the three of them rolled across the street, Mirage screeched to a halt and the door to the driver's seat swung open. "Jady-san! Hayaku! Before they all get back up!"

Jady worked through her pain and clawed her way over to the car. After climbing in at an unnervingly sluggish pace, the door shut behind her. Now riddled with pain and too exhausted to exert herself any further, she sat and watched as Heart and his Roidmudes ran up to Mirage and began to pound their fists against it. The vehicle rocked and creaked with every hit and alarms blared in Jady's ears. She caught a glimpse of 81's old, lifeless body before Mirage backed out at a furious pace and shot off onto the open road. "But...what about...her?" Jady gasped.

"...I'm sorry, Jady," came Amber's voice, finally having calmed from earlier, "We're just gonna have to leave her behind..."

"It can't be helped," said Flynn dismissively, "We need to get you medical attention right away, amongst _other_ things..."

If Kit knew what the lion was implying, he showed no signs of it in his tone. "Jady-san... Suggoku gomen ne... I'm so sorry... Moushi wakenai... I feel terrible..." Unable to bring herself to respond, Jady sat there in silence and listened to Heart's furious roar echo out in the distance.

* * *

Jady felt like she had been driven back in time as Mirage pulled into the underground tunnel all on its own. Only this time, she was in far more pain than she had been in on that fateful day. Before she knew it, the Mirage was back in the garage where Amber and Flynn anxiously awaited her. Once the car stopped and the door swung open, Jady tried to climb out of the driver's seat. But instead of simply stepping out as she intended, she collapsed under her own weight and fell straight to the floor. Both of the other furs clamored over her in a panic as Jady's armor flashed out of existence. Horrified, both furs rushed over to her side.

"Jady?!" said Amber, rapidly patting on the side of Jady's face, "Jady honey, are you alright?!" Jady's eyes didn't open. She only let out a groan as she tried to ball herself up. "Just hang in there, alright? We're gonna fix you up right away!"

"A-Amber-san," Kit spoke up, "Sh-she has several fractured-"

"You be QUIET, Roidmude!"

"Flynn! Not now! Just get the gurney!" With a snarl, the lion disappeared for the time being. Amber reached out and caressed the side of Jady's head. "Jady, listen to me. Everything's gonna be fine. I promise..."

"It hurts..." Jady's eyes clenched tighter as she pulled herself into a smaller ball. "A lot of pain..."

"I know... Just hang in there." Amber fought to maintain her brave front as her eyes began to water. Her ear raised as the sound of something being wheeled in filled the room.

"How could you be so RECKLESS out there?!" Flynn shouted at her before Amber could say anything, "You should've LISTENED to us instead of being so absent-minded and careless!" Amber shot him a look, only to stop as she took notice of something peculiar. Amongst the anger and frustration, she saw fear and concern in Flynn's eyes. There were even tears that were beginning to roll down from them. "We TOLD you to come back to us! Why didn't you just LISTEN and-"

"Flynn," Amber didn't even need to shout to get him to stop this time, "just save it for after we get her patched up. Alright?" Flynn tried to reply, only to end up choking up in the process. After turning away for a moment to wipe his tears away, Flynn nodded and helped her in carrying Jady to their infirmary.

Sometime later found Jady laid across a hospital gurney with bandages wrapped around her torso. Just as Kit had said, several of her ribs had been cracked in the tussle with Heart. The pain medication she had been given was still in the process of kicking in, and thus she still felt a considerable amount of pain. With Amber away in another room with Kit and looking into him and the Drive system further, that left Flynn to look over her for the time being. This wasn't entirely something she was happy with.

"I really can't believe you, Jady," Flynn scolded her, staring her down as he stood over her next to the gurney, "All you had to do was _listen_ to us, and none of this would have ever happened." Jady only glared up at the ceiling, refusing to look the mountain lion in the eye. "We _told_ you that you weren't ready. We _both_ told you."

 _And he's_ stillllllllll going _,_ Jady thought to herself begrudgingly. The literal _first_ thing she had woken up to after getting treated was Flynn berating her for a job well _failed_. "Yeah, I get it. I should've listened instead of acting like the idiot you guys think I am."

"That's NOT-" Flynn clamped his mouth shut and breathed deeply, "That's _not_ what I'm trying to say."

"Then what _are_ you trying to say? 'I told you so'? 'You aren't good enough to be Drive'? Something along those lines, right?"

"Jady-"

"I get it; I should've listened. But _excuse me_ for wanting to try and prove you guys wrong. _Never mind_ the improvements I've been making. _Never mind_ how well I was doing before Heart showed up. No, I'm always gonna be the useless, unqualified, uncoordinated klutz in your eyes. Well _lesson learned_. Does that make you happy?"

"Do you think it _does_?"

"I'm having a hard time thinking it _doesn't_."

"Do you _really_ think I wanted this?!"

"Well... _yeah_...I-"

"Having you here?! Lying battered and bruised on a gurney?!"

"...What?"

"Jady, we _need_ you out there, but we also need you at your _best_. What good are you to us if you can't even stand up straight?!"

"Well-"

"NO. Let me finish." Jady bit down on her lip and cast a sideward glance over to him. "You can tell us that you're ready as much as you want, but today served as an example of what happens if you go out there when you really _aren't_ ready. You'll try and fight and possibly manage to take a couple of Roidmudes down, but it only takes _one_ mistake to put you where you are now. We're lucky that you made it out of there in one piece, because if you hadn't gotten out of there sooner..." Though he had stopped, it didn't take much guessing to know where he had been going with that statement.

"Jady...you haven't forgotten that you're the only one that can do this...right? You're the _only_ one here that can be Drive right now. Do you even realize how important that makes you?"

"...I...I know."

"DO YOU?" Flynn said in a harsh tone, "Because if you did, then you'd know WHY we can't lose you. You'd know WHY we can't have you running off and putting yourself in danger like that. I CAN'T afford you making another mistake like this! I CAN'T afford to lose you to such a rash decision! I CAN'T..." Flynn stopped again and turned around. As he leaned against the wall, his tail lashed around with clear agitation and frustration. He pounded his fist against the wall. Not too hard, but hard enough to make a soft thump. Jady heard him take a few deep breaths before continuing. "...We can't do this without you...Jady... We need you...so we can't have you throwing yourself into danger just to prove a point..."

The panther was left absolutely speechless. She wasn't even sure how to react to this. Beneath all of the berating and harsh criticism, he sounded almost... _concerned_ for her. Like...he actually _cared_ for her and her wellbeing. Aside from the berating part, he felt like a totally different person to Jady. "...Ok..."

Flynn raised an ear. "What?"

Jady was just as surprised as Flynn from hearing herself say that. Having no intentions of taking it back, she went on, "...You're right... It was stupid of me... I'm sorry..."

It seemed to take a second for Flynn to rebound from that. When he did, he turned back around to face her. "Well... _good_... Don't be so reckless anymore then... Alright?"

"Got it."

It seemed as though neither of them knew how to react to the current situation as the two of them stared awkwardly back at each other. But in any case, it served as a nice change of pace for the both of them.

* * *

Elsewhere, Amber sat at her computer with her fingers flying across her keyboard. Set right next to her monitor was Kit, who was now plugged directly into the computer she was now working at. The only sounds that passed between them were the taps that came from each keystroke the Labrador made. This changed when Kit suddenly decided to speak up. "...Amber-san?"

"Yes, Kit?"

"...Was Heart right about me? Am I...like _them_?"

Amber paused in her work. "...It's...not outside of the realm of possibility..." Kit chose not to respond to the statement right away.

"Amber-san...who are the heroes here?"

"Pardon?"

"Ano...when Jady-san went against your instructions, she told me how heroes do what they believe is right...even when others don't agree with them. So, if that's true...wouldn't that make Heart a hero as well? Would that make us _villains_? Is he just a villain to _us_ , and we a villain to _him_? I'm...I'm just very confused now..."

Amber wasn't quite sure of how to answer him. Stopping in her work altogether, she looked to his screen and said, "Honestly, Kit, those are some _really_ deep questions to pose, and they're ones that I don't think I'll be able to answer for you."

"...What do you mean?"

"Morality's a tricky subject, Kit. I can talk about my morals all day, but in the end, I'm just one person with one perspective."

"I...still don't think I understand."

"All you need to know is that if you want answers to those questions, you'll have to find them on your own. Coming to your own conclusions on something like this is just part of life."

"Part...of life..." And just like that, the conversation came to an end. Kit remained silent from then on as he carefully pondered the meaning of Amber's words.

* * *

Rage. Fury. Hatred.

These were emotions that Heart wasn't used to feeling, and now they were the only ones he could feel. He could barely control himself as he stormed through his junkyard and struck down every insignificant piece of scrap metal that dared to stand in his way. Junk parts were scattered everywhere and lay littered across the dirt. This only served to anger him more as they only stood as more obstacles in his path. But parts weren't what he saw. What he saw in every tiny piece of metal that defied him of his clear road was the face of the one responsible for all of his anger.

Jady.

He could see the armor-plated face in every tiny scrap that lay before him. Just picturing her made a fiery rage build up from his very core. He could almost feel the hate radiate out from his body. With a guttural roar, Heart JAMMED his fist into a nearby broken-down car, reducing it to nothing but rusted rubble in a single blow. But he wasn't satisfied with just that alone. So he reeled back and pummeled the remains of the car with blow after blow.

"She LIED to me!" he boomed, shaking the very ground beneath his feet with every blow that he delivered, "She said she believed in me. My Paradise. But she LIED! She's a DIRTY LIAR and a LOW-LIFE!" This time, he threw his foot forward in a monstrous kick that sent an entire half of the car flying upwards. "She hurt my friends! She HURT THEM!" Heart clasped his hands together and brought them down upon the airborne car half, quickening its trip to the ground and SMASHING it to glowing-hot smithereens. "She didn't listen to me. She didn't do what I told her to do. She should have listened. Why didn't she listen? Why didn't she obey me? Why did she DEFY ME?!" Again, he kicked his foot forward. Flocked birds scattered as loud crashes cracked through the air as a result of the debris Heart sent flying. "I'll show her. I'll HURT her. I'll make her know what it FEELS LIKE!" Another broken-down car fell victim to Heart's fury as he rammed his shoulder into its side, causing it to cave in on itself. "She's just wrong. I'm right. I'M RIGHT. She's nothing but a non-believer. I'm right. My Paradise works. I'M RIGHT!"

"Heart..." came a timid voice. Heart turned around to find 70 standing in wait nearby. "What should we do now?"

Heart turned back around and plunged his arms into the vehicle. With a strained snarl, he TORE it apart and SLAMMED one half into the other. "There's only one thing _TO_ do! Rally all of our friends! Together, we will start a GLORIOUS uprising. I want to bring as MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN into our Paradise, and I want it done as QUICKLY as possible!"

"But...is that such a good idea?" questioned 70, "Because that might mean that there would be more people resisting us than we can possibly handle..."

Initially, Heart had been continuing to destroy random objects during their conversation. That, however, came to an end as soon as 70 had made its response to him. Heart now stood frozen in place, hunched over and facing the other way. "Are you...disagreeing...with me?"

70 shuffled its feet. "I-I just think that we should take more caution in-" Before it could even finish, and before it could even react, Heart whirled around and PLOWED his fist into its chest. The Roidmude was sent _flying_ and crashed into a pile of debris, creating an even bigger mess as metal parts scattered through the air. As it lay there in a daze, Heart stomped over to it and SLAMMED his foot into its chest.

" **I KNOW BEST! NO ONE QUESTIONS ME! NO ONE EVER QUESTIONS ME!** " Heat emanated from his exterior as he bellowed at the Roidmude beneath his foot. Something seemed to spark from within 70 as its eyes flashed for a brief moment.

" _Yes_ , Heart!" 70 exclaimed with glee and adoration, "Of _course_ you're right! I don't know what I was thinking!"

Hearing this seemed to fill Heart's core with happiness, and it served as enough to put an end to his furious rampage. As such, he stepped away from 70 and allowed it to get back to its feet. As it did, he said to him in a more gentle voice, "Very good. Now then...go. Gather our beloved friends. Bring them all to me. And then...we can bring our Paradise to the _world_..."

* * *

"I thought you said you were good to walk now!"

"I know what I said! And I _was_ good to walk! I just didn't think I _wouldn't_ be by the time we got to the hall!"

"Alright, alright, just...hold on. Let me kneel down for you. Just wrap your arm around my neck okay?"

"I don't know if now's the best time to teach me how to do a choke hold... Oh come on, you _know_ I'm kidding!"

"Just wrap your arm around me already."

"Alright, _fiiiiiine_..."

Once Flynn felt that Jady's arm was secure, he hoisted her up and helped her along the hallway. The walk was _thankfully_ short, and the pair found themselves in Amber's presence soon enough. "Amber?" called Flynn, "How's the programming going? Have you gotten my compatibility back yet?"

The look the Lab gave him answered him before _she_ could. "I'm afraid not, Flynn..."

A snarl left his throat. "But _why_? What's keeping you from doing it?"

"I'm _sorry_ , Flynn, but it's just a _really_ complicated program. One tiny change I make to one thing leads to a _detrimental_ change to something else. I'm doing my best here, but there _really_ isn't much that I can do-"

"That's not true." A shocked gasp escaped Amber's throat; Kit had cut her off.

"You stay out of this, AI," Flynn snapped harshly.

"Wait, no!" Jady shook her head, "Kit, what do you mean?"

"D-don't worry about it, Jady," Amber stammered, something that wasn't common for the canine, "He's just a little confused right now-"

"NO, Amber-san," Kit said in a firmness that seemed almost alien to his normally quiet and reserved nature, "they deserve to know."

"H-he just feels guilty over this whole incident, guys," Amber went on, "He just wants to give you guys a reason to-"

"Amber-san can easily make Flynn-san compatible again. She just needs to reset the Driver."

" _Kit,_ just _stop_ -"

"Amber?" Flynn spoke up, "...Is this true?"

With closed eyes, Amber let out a sigh of defeat. "...Yes... He's right... That's all we need to do..."

"Well _why_ aren't you doing it then?!"

"Because there HAS to be another way!"

"Why do you NEED another way?!"

"Wait-wait-wait-wait!" Jady spoke up and raised her paw, "I don't get it; why won't you just reset it?"

"Because doing so would erase me," Kit explained in a tone that shouldn't have been as calm as it was. Jady's chest tightened upon this revelation, and her eyes widened to a point where they could've bulged right out of their sockets.

"All the more reason to do it," said Flynn dismissively, "Amber, get on it already."

"FLYNN!" Jady shouted with bared teeth, "How could you be so cold to him?! He's part of the team, remember?!"

"A member of the team that put YOU in the line of DANGER!"

"But-"

"JADY. If we don't do this, you're going to have to go out there and fight the Roidmudes. And you aren't the LEAST bit fit for battle right now!" Jady opened her muzzle to respond, but upon realizing that Flynn really was right in this case, she slowly closed it and remained silent.

"Flynn, wait a minute," said Amber, "we don't have to do this. I can find another way! I just need time-"

"Amber, this is NOT the time to be getting sentimental!" Flynn barked at her, "We are OUT of time! You SAW how enraged Jady left Heart! You SAW how mentally unstable he is! You SAW what he was capable of! He is MAKING more Roidmudes, Amber! Out of PEOPLE! And with how furious we left him, there's NO TELLING what he's going to do next! Amber, I NEED to be out there now! Do you REALLY want to send Jady out to fight that psychopath the way she is now?! And, if Heart really was telling the truth, that AI is programmed JUST like the Roidmudes we made. The ones that _malfunctioned_. The ones that _went berserk_. The ones that _destroyed_ the lab and TOOK MY PARENTS AWAY FROM ME. Do you WANT something like that to happen again?! Do you WANT to risk a tragedy like that happening to Jady?!"

Jady's stomach was turning from how much she wanted to argue with him, especially in the midst of the tense silence that had fallen over the room. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized how hard it was to argue with him over this. "...Jady-san?" Her ear raised as she heard Kit's voice, "Amber-san? It's okay...neither of you need to worry for me anymore... I understand the situation... I realize that I'm the one preventing you all from achieving your goals...

"I...may have only been around for a month or so, but...I think I enjoyed my time with everyone... Tanoshikatta... Dakara... That's why...I'm okay with being erased now...if it keeps everyone safe..."

Jady was fighting the urge to cry, and she was failing miserably. Tears were rolling down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. As she hiccupped and choked, Amber looked over to Flynn with a cold stare. "Well, Flynn, do you still think we can't trust him? Huh?" Flynn chose not to respond. "Yeah, maybe Kit _is_ programmed like the Roidmudes we designed that day. Maybe I confirmed that _myself_ and chose not to tell anyone else. Maybe I knew about it this entire time! Maybe I know for a FACT that he's programmed EXACTLY like the Roidmudes that malfunctioned on that day! But you know what? The one thing I DON'T know for sure is whether or not he's going to malfunction like them.

"Flynn, you aren't the only one that grieves over that day. _I_ feel that grief _too_. Sometimes, it's almost _overwhelming_. There are times where I can't get _up_ in the morning because of the _guilt_ that's hanging over me!"

"Guilt?" Flynn questioned.

"Flynn, you feel grief over losing your parents, but _I_ feel grief for...for being the _reason_ they're dead."

"Amber, you're _not_ responsible for what happened. If anything, it was _mine_ for not-"

"NO!" Amber cut him off, once again acting out of her norm, " _You_ only say that because you _feel_ like it's true. _I_ say that because I _KNOW_ it's true!"

"Amb-"

"Flynn, go over what everyone was in charge of working on. Right now."

The lion was caught off guard by this demand and had to take a moment to recollect himself before he replied, "...Ummm...dad and I were engineering the body...and you and mom were working on...the...programming-"

"No. No, Flynn. _I_. Was in charge of programming. Your mom was going to work on mental evaluation."

"Yeah, I was saying-"

"FLYNN. YOU DON'T GET IT. _I_ designed the Roidmudes' intelligence programs. _I_ was the one that programmed how they would think. The Roidmudes malfunctioned from MY program!" Now Amber was the one who was fighting off tears, and she was failing just as much as Jady was at wiping them away. "Do you know what I see in Kit, Flynn? I _know_ you see a failure, another disaster just _waiting_ to happen, and _trust_ me, I understand that. But I see something different. I see reassurance. I see _hope_. I see what _could_ have been. Kit is what the Roidmudes would have been like if I had done everything RIGHT. Don't you _see_? Kit _feels_. He _learns_. He does what we _wanted_ the Roidmudes to do when we started that project three years ago.

"Yes, I was hiding the fact that we could've done this ages ago. It was stupid of me to do that, I know. But can you really blame me-"

"Amber-san," Kit cut in, "it's okay... No one is mad at you..."

"...B-but-"

"And I thank you for the concern. Honto ni arigato gozaimashita. Demo... But I've come to terms with being erased. I much prefer that over putting Jady through more unnecessary risks."

"O-OKAY, I've had enough of this! My turn to speak now!" All eyes were on Jady now as she straightened herself out as best as she could. "I don't recall us being back in the 18th century, so I'm _pretty sure_ that I'm still allowed to make my own decisions!"

Flynn and Amber exchanged confused and shocked looks with each other. "Wait...you're not still planning on _fighting_ , are you?!" asked Flynn.

"Is that even a question?!" Jady questioned right back, "DUH I'm planning on fighting! I'm not just gonna wuss-out and let someone _die_ for me! And I don't know how everyone _else_ feels about Kit, but to me, he's _more_ than just some AI. He's my _friend_ , and he's one that I'm not gonna let sacrifice himself so... _dismissively_. Besides, why should I be benched over a little injury like this?"

"Jady-san, you have _multiple fractured ribs_!"

"And what of it?! It can't be worse than being _erased from existence._ I'm willing to put up with a little pain if it means I don't have to kill off one of my _closest friends_. Even if having a computer for a best friend is actually pretty sad to admit." Jady made sure to mutter that last part to herself. "It's like I said earlier; we're a _team_. And I don't _care_ how cliché that sounds because it's TRUE. We. Are. A team! We got into this crazy, robot-filled mess together, and so help me, we are getting OUT of this crazy, robot-filled mess together!"

"B-but Jady-san-"

"Don't 'But Jady-san' _me_ , Kit. I'm not just gonna let you go like that so easily. You've still got TONS of things to learn about, and I've still got a psychopathic preacher-bot to take care of. Wait, scratch that. _We've_ still got a psychopathic preacher-bot to take care of. S-so you're not going _anywhere_ until we're through with all of that!"

"Jady-san..." The AI wanted to stop her as she started to choke up, but he already knew that there was no stopping her at this point.

"And you _know what,_ Flynn?" Jady turned to him to look him dead in the eye, "I'm with Amber on this one. We don't know for sure if Kit's gonna turn out like those guys! I mean, I _get_ that you're all scared...about..." Jady's expressions suddenly softened. With a sigh, she took on a gentler, less intense tone of voice. "...It's actually...pretty neat to see you so concerned over me...and I get why you don't wanna trust Kit. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I don't have any doubts for him myself... But I wanna believe in him, y'know? And it'd be great if _you_ believed in him. I guess...I really just want you to believe in _both_ of us..."

"...Wha-"

"I got to fight Heart first," Jady went on before Flynn could say anything further, "I mean, I obviously didn't _win_ , but I got to fight him! I got to see how he fights firsthand. He might've left a dent or two on me... Okay, maybe _more_ than a dent, but it's nothing some pain medication won't help me through! Plus, _I'm_ the one that got him so mad in the first place, right? So if you go out there instead of me, it'll only make him _angrier_ and wanna search for me!"

"...Jady..."

"JUST...one last thing..." A more pleading look spread across Jady's face. "You've got the chance to be Drive from here on out, right? So...how 'bout instead of jumping the gun, we can wait for Amber to come up with a way for you to be Drive that _doesn't_ involve killing Kit in the process? And _then_ , you'll get to be Drive, just like you deserve to be... Promise." Flynn had no clue on how to react. So much had just been unraveled upon him all at once. Between the revelation of the reset solution and literally _everyone else_ opening up about their feelings towards the AI, he was having a hard time trying to pick which subject to speak on first.

"You know..." said Amber, sparing the lion from the need to break the room's heavy silence, "you've gotta give the girl one thing; she's certainly got the drive to make it happen." Jady shot her a look.

"Is that supposed to be a pun?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that claim." Both girls shared a laugh with each other.

"Well maybe I should fuel you on, then." Amber couldn't stop herself from a short snort.

"I guess I could try and keep things rolling then."

"Shouldn't be hard if I keep steering you in the right direction."

"We'll probably hit a few bumps in the road, but we should be alright."

"Amber-san...ano...that one was a little... _lane_..." The girls cracked up at Kit's effort, and the Lab promptly pat him gently with her paw.

"Nice try, Kit," said Jady, "but I'm gonna need you to get in gear for this."

"Let's be fair to him, he's new to this. Maybe we should get him up to speed?"

"Give him a quick crash course?"

"Yup. Break out all of the stops."

"We'll make sure to slow things down for you, Kit."

"O-okay, guys...come on... I'm getting kind of tired of this..." The room fell silent once more upon Flynn's request, only for it to be filled with howling cackles from the girls several seconds after. A hot blush rose to his cheeks as he realized the unintentional pun he had made.

"...Tires...tire..." The AI seemed to take a moment to ponder as he fell silent. "Jady-san...I think I just got an idea to protect your chest." Jady managed to get herself to stop laughing.

"Well _get on it_ then!"

"N...nanda?"

"Your idea's not gonna make _itself,_ is it?"

"I-I know, but-"

"You're still part of this team and you've got nowhere to be, so _chop-chop_! We can't have you sitting around here doing nothing while there's a psychopathic robot cultist running around, right Flynn?" The lion only stared back at her, seemingly unsure of how to respond.

"Well, while you get on that," Amber spoke up, "I'm gonna start analyzing the footage we got of Heart and see if I can find any weaknesses you guys can exploit."

"Minna..." Kit seemed to be at a loss for words, not unlike a certain feline in the room. "...Wakarimashita. I understand. I'll do what I can while I'm here."

"I'll keep you hooked up here, then," Amber said, patting the wires plugging Kit into her computer, "I might as well help you with that too."

With a satisfied nod, Jady looked back up to Flynn, who still had yet to comment on the whole situation. "Well, Flynn? You and I are the only ones left not doing anything. I'll reckon you wanna change that?"

Flynn couldn't get himself to tear his eyes away from the expectant look Jady was giving him. The look seemed to wear him down because when he finally spoke up, he said, "...Ten minutes. Rest your body for ten minutes. Then we get back to training."

A bright smile spread across Jady's muzzle. " _That's_ the spirit."


	4. Part 3

As the sun rose from behind the horizon and gave light to the new day, Heart took his last step to the top of his mountain of scrap metal. With the sun's rays finally reaching across the land, he was able to see the faces of all of the friends he had gathered over the course of his life. There they were...all 81 of them... Heart's core was filled to the brim with happiness as he looked over each and every one of them. They all still had his old, frightening body, but he loved them all nonetheless.

That was enough fawning over his friends; there would be time for that later. Now, it was time to get to business.

"My friends," he began, spreading his arms wide as he addressed them all, "I must take a moment to thank you all. Because of you, my Paradise has become what it is today; a splendid, GLORIOUS masterpiece! And one that deserves to be SHARED and CHERISHED! But...it has come to my attention...that there will be those that... _disagree_ with that sentiment... Those that wish to... _tear apart_ what we've worked so hard to build up... My friends, this is an inevitable event that I am still learning to understand... But I will tell you this now: understanding is NOT accepting! There is only ONE thing that we can do to stomp out this... _faithlessness_. There is only ONE thing we can do to erase our enemies! And THAT...is to make them our FRIENDS!

My friends, let us not forget the ultimate goal that we have set for ourselves! Our goal to spread _true_ joy and _true_ content to as many people as we can. Our goal to STRENGTHEN our friendship and to GROW our Paradise to its greatest potential! Our goal to SPREAD our Paradise to the WORLD! Only THEN will there never be opposition! Only THEN will there never be faithlessness! GO, my friends! Go forth and bring about the peace that the world so desires!" Heart's friends all exclaimed in unison as they stampeded through the forest, their cores filled with determination and their minds set on their goal. Heart couldn't help but admire his Paradise from where he stood. Even now, as big as it was, it was only going to grow bigger from here on out...

* * *

Officer Rick slumped down in his seat as he closed the car's door behind him. As if to play homage to the stereotype of police officers, his breakfast today would consist of the single donut and steaming coffee he now held in his paws. After setting his caffeinated drink down in a cup-holder, Rick took a bite out of his donut and settled into a comfortable position. Morning patrols always took way longer than he preferred, so he thought it best to get some relaxation in before he got started. He flinched as his coffee burned his lip upon his first sip and set his drink back down to let it properly cool off. But as he did, he took notice of someone darting down the street. He furrowed a brow at this as he watched the fur disappear behind a building. This on its own wasn't entirely disconcerting, more just mildly confusing. But when _more_ people rushed by, he felt the need to start the car. He rolled down one of the windows an inch to hear the screams of panic that were now filling the air.

As he reached to grab his radio, something struck him that knocked his donut right out of his paw. But rather than it fly off into the back of his car, it hung in the air suspended by absolutely nothing. Rick tried to turn and look at it, but suddenly, he realized that he just couldn't move. He couldn't even manage to get his eyes to so much as twitch.

Then he saw them; the undeniable reason those people had ran away in such a hurry. Robots. Not just a couple. Not just a handful. A practical _army_ of them. They filled the streets as they marched, spreading out like a wildfire. Rick felt the urge to scream, but again, none of his muscles would move. Fear filled his heart as one of them locked its gaze with his and began to march its way over to him. He begged his body to move but it just wouldn't listen. The robot closed the distance between it and Rick's door, and the robot tugged at the door handle. Once it realized that it was locked, it SMASHED its fist through the glass window, sending shards of glass flying until they _too_ hung still in the air.

"Don't worry, friend," the robot said, "I'm going to take you to our Paradise."

* * *

"Guys?!" shouted Amber, "We've got trouble!" Jady's eyes snapped open as she shot up from Mirage's reclined seat. She instantly regretted this decision as sharp pains shot through her body. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself all the way back up and hobbled over to join Flynn in this surprise morning scramble. "It looks like Heart's started his tantrum. There are Roidmudes all over the city!"

"How many of them are there?" asked Flynn.

"A LOT," was all Amber said as she sat back in her chair to allow the others to take a look at her screen. From the viewpoint of a street-cam, they watched as an army of Roidmudes marched down the streets. Whilst some closed in on frozen, helpless furs, others walked in the other direction with furs tossed over their shoulders. The sight horrified Flynn. The entire scene looked like something out of his nightmares. An entire _army_ of his family's creation was now wreaking havoc upon a mass of innocent lives. Each one of them had the capacity to kill, and they were all being led by a Roidmude that had somehow evolved _beyond_ the scope of what his family had designed them to be.

"Wait a sec, I know that street!" Jady shouted suddenly, snapping the lion out of his trance, "That's where I work! How'd they make it so far into the city without anyone noticing?!"

"It's the Heavy Acceleration!" said Amber, "It's keeping people from calling for help in time, and it might even be slowing down my video feeds!"

"Hai! It is!" said Kit, "This footage is almost _an hour off_!"

"Amber, did you manage to get me compatible yet?" said Flynn. He heard Amber hiss out a frustrated sigh.

"Not yet," she said with regret, "I still can't find a work-around."

"Then it looks like I'm up!" Jady cut in, "Kit, did you finish that thing you were working on?"

"Hai! I've already completed preparations for it!"

"Good! Amber, how's your analysis thing going?"

"Still working out the specifics. I'm onto something but I haven't quite nailed anything down yet. I've got some Shift Cars brewing in the Mirage incase my theories are correct, but they're still works in progress too. They may or may not be done getting built by the time you find Heart."

"That's fine," Jady nodded as Amber handed her Kit after unplugging him from the console. She slapped him onto her waist, and his belt snaked around her form to latch him onto her securely. Before she could do anything else, Amber shoved a pair of pills into her paws. Jady quickly swallowed them down before looking down at Kit. "Alright, Kit! You ready to go?!"

"HAI! Henshin shimashou!"

"Henshin?"

"Ah! Gomen ne. Sorry, I meant transform."

"Nah, you know what? I like that better. Let's do it! LET'S HENSHIN!" Firing herself up with enthusiasm, she turned Kit's key and jammed her Shift Car into her Shift Brace. She Shifted Up with a flick of her wrist and took on a power-stance.

 **DRIVE! TYPE: SPECIAL!**

Jady's armor materialized and clamped onto her in a flashy display of lights and sounds. Just when she thought it was over, something shot out from Mirage. It flew at such a speed that didn't grant her much time to react to it. By the time her arms were up to guard herself, the object had already clamped around her like a sash. Confusion filled her head as she looked down at what had nearly collided into her. "Is this...a tire?"

"...H...hai," Kit answered sheepishly, "I-I thought that the rubber would...ano...c-cushion you from attacks-I-I'm sorry, it was foolish of me to think-"

"Ok save the drama! I like it! I think it's cool! Wastin' time! Robots to punch! Let's GO!"

"Wait!" Flynn shouted as he rushed over to the car, "Amber and I are coming too!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Those pain killers can only go so far!" shouted Amber as she jumped into the back seat, "If anything goes wrong, we'll bail you out with Mirage!"

Left with no time to argue, Jady rushed over to Mirage. Slamming the door behind her and hitting the ignition button, she whipped her seatbelt on and shifted the car from park to drive. She then grabbed ahold of the steering wheel and _slammed_ her foot on the gas-pedal. Mirage's tire screeches ripped through the air before friction caught up with it and sent the car itself _rocketing_ up the driveway. Its engines roared like a predator on the attack which sent chills up Jady's spine. It didn't take long for Mirage to come _flying_ out of the tunnel and land back on the ground. It shot past a cluster of trees before zooming down the road.

* * *

"You're sure you don't need directions, Jady-san?"

"It's my home! Of course not! Just make sure I don't crash into anything!"

"Wakarimashita!" Immediately, Jady felt the aid of the AI take effect. Her turns were much smoother as Mirage ripped through the streets and weaved through car after car. "Jady-san! Mite kudasai! Look over there!" Jady's UI flared to life and began to highlight a cluster of figures in the distance. "There's a heavy amount of Roidmudes ahead of us, but there are also just as many civilians there as well! We won't be able to drive safely down this road any further!"

"Uhhh..." Jady tapped her fingers on the wheel rapidly. "OH! Got an idea! Kit, take the wheel! Imma jump out and _slingshot_ my way through them all!"

"Are you INSANE, Jady?!"

"I-is that really the best idea?"

"Kit, you literally gave me a _tire_ to protect myself! I'll be fine!"

"R-ryokai!"

This time Flynn and Amber were the ones not left any time to argue as Jady unbuckled herself and opened the door. She hung her feet out and waited until her UI told her that she had hit High Speed. As soon as it did, she hopped out and hung onto the door-handle. "On my mark!" she shouted over the howling winds and roaring engines. "THREE! TWO! ONE! GO!" Right on cue, Kit made a hard right and _flung_ Jady down the rest of the road. She ducked and weaved through a practical forest of grab-happy Roidmudes, all of which whipped by in a fraction of a second. Rather than let herself peter out gradually, Jady decided to slow herself manually by throwing an arm out to the side and _walloping_ it directly into the face of one unfortunate Roidmude. The robot was knocked _right_ off of its feet and Jady screeched to a sudden halt on her heels.

Red arrows littered her vision as her UI alerted her to the _numerous_ Roidmudes that hadn't just taken a Jady to the face. Though many of them already had their hands full with a hostage, many others had their hands free. And judging from the way they were all now looking at her, it seemed as though they intended to change that fact with _her_.

"Jady-san, don't forget; all of those Roidmudes are also the hostages Heart kidnapped! Be careful to not damage them too much!"

"Don't need to tell me twice..." Jady muttered, shuddering as the image of Heart tearing out that poor woman's mind re-surfaced in her head. "Watch my back, Kit! It's time for me to do the hero thing now!"

"Nani ko...h-HAI!"

Rallying herself with a battle cry, Jady sprinted forward and plowed her way through a cluster of Roidmudes. She was incredibly grateful for how pointed her shoulder guards were, as they served as great battering rams and did well in deterring any unwanted advances on her. They didn't help to ease the pain though, as each impact caused dull pains to flare up from her chest. She did her best to push through it all as she closed in on a Roidmude with a hostage flung over its shoulder. It became clear that it hadn't see her coming as she managed to land a clean hit on the back of its knee without any fuss. Jady snatched the hostage from its shoulders as it dropped to its knees and hurried off. She screeched to a halt as a Roidmude jumped in front of her and tried to lunge at her. She looked back and forth between the hostage and the _many_ Roidmudes coming after her as she backed away. "Iiiiiiiiiiii didn't think this through! Kit, I need ideas!"

"I-I need a moment to think! M-matte kudasai!"

Jady grunted as she uppercut an approaching Roidmude. Her heart leapt as she felt someone grab onto the hostage and tug at him. Unable to just flat out punch the offending Roidmude, Jady was forced to weave a leg through the hostage's and kick at its shins. This did well enough in getting it to let go, but didn't do much in knocking him back very far. As such, she had to hastily backpedal away from it as it tried to lunge at her and the hostage.

"I've got it! We're in Heavy Acceleration, so everything but we and the Roidmudes will be moving slower!"

"Kit I'm too busy to be putting two and two together right now! What are you getting at here?!"

"If you toss the hostage into the air, he will hang there for as long as we need him to!"

"Gotcha!" After driving her foot into the Roidmude's shin one last time, she unhooked her arm from the hostage's waist and grabbed hold of his sides. "Sorry about this, dude!" With a grunt, she spun around and _hurled_ him into the air, sending him into a sluggish arc aimed at Mirage.

"BEHIND YOU JADY-SAN!" Her heart THUMPED as a Roidmude grabbed her from behind and pulled her backwards. She flailed her arms around and tried to resist, but the robot had caught her by surprise and thrown her off balance. "Jady-san!" The tire around her chest began to rumble, and suddenly, it spun at blinding speeds. The Roidmude's wrist caught up against the tire, and as a result, its arm was _thrown_ off of Jady. She stumbled forward before whirling around and CLOCKING the Roidmude on the side of the head. As it fell, Jady looked down at the tire as it came to an abrupt stop.

"Not too shabby, Kit! I might just start warming up to this thing!"

"But I thought you said you liked it!"

"Not time for arguing! People to save!" She winced as she slammed her shoulder-guard against another Roidmude in her running start. She didn't waste much time fighting any of the other Roidmudes as she elected to simply shove them to the side and clear her path.

"Jady-san! There's another hostage nearby! Look to your left!" Sure enough, Kit's directing led her gaze over to another Roidmude trying to slip away from the crowd with its own hostage in tow.

"Oh NO you don't!" Jady shouted as she hunched over and charged like a bull. Sparks flew off of her armor as Roidmudes were knocked aside in her mad dash. She brought her target down like any professional athlete would in the big leagues: grabbing its waist in a full on dive. Both her and the Roidmude crashed into the pavement with loud thuds, leaving the hostage to hang there in the middle of the air. Jady hastily scrambled up to her feet and tried to run to her, but a stone-cold grip on her ankle prevented her from getting very far. She turned around and raised her foot to stomp the robot's face in, only to stop as she remembered once again that each and every one of these Roidmudes were people she was meant to save as well.

This momentary hesitation gave the Roidmudes the chance they needed to strike back. With her in this state, it was all too easy for one of the Roidmudes to trap her in a net of spider-webs to keep her from moving. With how it constricted around her, the most she could do was squirm in place. This didn't stop her from trying, though, as she struggled to free herself with all of her might. "J-Jady-san! The hostages!"

"I KNOW! I'll get to them-"

"IIE! NO! LOOK! The Roidmudes are..." Jady whipped her head back and froze. Literal moments ago, she had thought that things couldn't possibly get any worse. The Roidmudes themselves seemed to want to prove her wrong, for a pair of them was now _flying in the air_ with a set of bat-like wings that had sprouted from their backs. The hostages that had been thrown into the air were easy pickings for the likes of them. And just like that, the hostages were back in the hands of the Roidmudes. Only this time, they were taken away at a much more rapid pace.

"NO!" Jady screamed, "Kit! Do something!"

"HOW?!"

"I-I don't know! Try the grappling hook!"

"They're too far!"

"Th-then the Gatling gun!"

"But I might hit the hostages!"

Jady's heart sank as the airborne Roidmudes grew farther and farther away. The pit forming in her stomach was quickly filled up with anger, and it was the kind of anger that filled her with strength. Gritting her teeth through the pain it brought, Jady _flexed_ her arms with all of her might and tore away the webs that bound her. She yanked her foot away from the Roidmude's grasp and bolted forward. She came to a stop, however, as she became intensely aware of the amount of space all of the other Roidmudes had inexplicably given her. She whipped her gaze back and forth, finding that all of them were slowly backing up. "Wh...why are they..."

"J...Jady-san..." Kit's voice was trembling now, "Turn around..."

"Turn aro-" She shut herself up as soon as she put together what that meant. Though hesitant, she brought herself to follow Kit's instruction and turned around. Sure enough, the man of the hour was making his way here in all of his shimmering-red glory. Not a single Roidmude dared to stand in Heart's way, and this left both him and Jady to stand in the middle of an open street. Jady refused to take her eyes off of him for even a _fraction_ of a second. He wasn't only the most dangerous Roidmude out of them all; he was also the only one with the knowledge of how to turn people into Roidmudes, and by extension, turn them _back_.

That meant that she had to capture him. Alive.

"Oh poor, naïve little Jady," he shook his head as he walked, "Still hurting my friends without even a _lick_ of remorse. How like you..."

Jady clenched her fist, ignoring how hard her heart was hammering in her chest. "You know what? How about instead of wasting twenty minutes throwing insults at each other, we just skip right to the _good part_?!" She pounded her fist into her other palm to punctuate her point.

"Ah, you resorted to violence... How did I already know you'd do so?" Heart shook his head. "Very well... As the old saying goes...VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE!" Jady felt her blood run cold as Heart came barreling towards her. She failed to move out of the way in a fit of panic and grunted as the red Roidmude _crashed_ into her. Jady's heels dug up gravel from the street as she struggled to halt his charge and break free, but with his overwhelming strength and iron grip around her shoulder guards, escape appeared to be nothing but a dying wish.

But Kit proved to her that dying didn't mean dead, as the tire around her chest began to spin rapidly once again. It tore at Heart's chest with the velocity of its spin and forced him to tumble downwards. His fall gave Jady the chance to rip herself away and backpedal out of his reach. Kit's alarms warned her, however, that she was backpedaling _right_ into the arms of a waiting Roidmude. She stopped her stride in time to whirl around and bat it aside with the side of her fist.

This only served to solve one problem and bring about another, at least if Heart's furious cry was anything to say about it. Jady didn't need an alarm or even turn around to realize he was charging at her like a raging bull; the way the ground tremored with each step was enough of a giveaway. She threw herself off to the side as quickly as she could, the fur on her back standing up on end as the tremors grew dangerously close to her. She didn't make it out completely unscathed though, as Heart managed to catch her shoulder with his hand. The shock of the blow ran all the way through her body, namely her chest, which flared up with more pain. Jady clenched her teeth and fell to her knees, grasping it in one paw and propping herself up on the ground with the other.

"Jady-san, get up! Heart is coming back!" Jady did her best to heed Kit's warning, but her body was making hard to do so in a timely manner. She struggled to stand up quickly, but the pains wreaking her body kept forcing her back down to the ground. "JADY-SAN!" Heart was dangerously close now, and his charge was as fast and furious as ever. With tightly grit teeth, Jady threw herself onto the ground.

"KIT! SPIN THE TIRE!" She didn't need to ask twice. The tire was spinning as soon as the command was given. With her on the ground, the tire was able to roll her away to safety, but not before her heels managed to catch Heart's, bringing him down to the ground as well. Jady couldn't help but smile as she felt one final tremor of the ground from Heart's untimely face-plant. Both of them were racing to get back up on their feet first as soon as they got their bearings. While Jady thought that she was the one winning that race, the alarms blaring in her ears told a different story. Her leg muscles tensed in preparation for another mad dash, but when her gaze rose, she found Heart still standing in place.

A split second later, the answer to her confusion hit her head on. An invisible blast of heat CRASHED into her and knocked her right off of her feet, forcing a cry of pain from her throat. By the time she hit the ground, the heat was still scorching at her body. Her UI flared to live and alerted her of the damage she had just taken; minor burns, breaches in her armor. Neither were devastating, but they weren't any less painful.

Her efforts to stand back up were aided by the hands of those she wanted the least help from. She was now seized by several Roidmudes that had clamored around her after Heart's unexplained heat-blast, leaving her with little wiggle room. "KIT! TIRE THING! NOW!" She didn't even get to finish her cry by the time the tire had gotten spinning. It served well in getting most of those unwanted hands off of her body, flinging them either up in the air or down to the ground.

And up in the air was where _she_ went next as a second blast of heat _plowed_ into her as soon as the path had been cleared between her and Heart. The arc she was thrown into sent her _right through_ the wall of a nearby building, sending bricks flying everywhere before they stopped to hang still in the air. Lights danced in Jady's eyes as she crashed into the ground, feeling the impact ripple through her body. "JADY-SAN!" The panther couldn't answer; her mind was in too much of a daze. Pain was now riddling her body, burning from her chest and radiating out to her limbs. "OY! JADY-SAN!" The next thing she heard was Mirage's tire screeches ripping through the air. She craned her neck to the side to see the vehicle swerving around the street to find a clear opening to her.

"T-try grappling them one at a time!" Amber urged. Flynn grimaced and tightened his grip on the wheel.

"That'd take way too long! We need to get to her NOW!" He snarled as one of the Roidmudes began to stomp towards them. He wasted no time in hitting one of the switches, launching a grappling hook straight into the approaching robot. The hook struck the Roidmude square in the chest, hitting it with enough force to stagger it. Soon many others turned their attention to the vehicle and began their approach. The lion slammed his fist against the wheel before putting the car in reverse and slamming his foot on the pedal.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

"We've got no choice! I'm gonna have to try and jet over them all! We have the fuel for that, right?!"

"I really HOPE so!"

"Looks like we're about to find out then!" He hit the brakes and switched the car back into drive. He slammed his foot on the pedal again, and Mirage SHOT through the streets once again. Quickly running out of clear road, Flynn reached down and flipped another switch. The entire car shook as the rockets beneath all fired off at once. Both Flynn and Amber sunk into their seats as the vehicle was propelled off of the ground and soared right over a Roidmude's head. Just like their stomachs, Mirage plummeted towards the ground at a gut-wrenching speed. Flynn tightened his grip on the wheel and narrowed his eyes, determined to keep them open and see the Roidmude responsible for his parents' untimely ends be reduced to nothing but roadkill.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans.

Just before Mirage's grill could flatten Heart's face into a pancake, he whirled around and SMASHED the side of his fist against the vehicle, batting it out of the air like a baseball. The car was sent spiraling out of control, spinning in the air like a top until it busted through a nearby building and crashed into another to come to an abrupt halt. The car's frame was horrendously warped and the doors hung WIDE open. The locking mechanisms to them had stood no chance against that impact with the building. What had stood a chance, however, were the airbags which were currently trapping the two furs inside.

"GUYS!" Jady screamed, finding her voice amongst her terror. She fought to stand back up, but her body made it impossible to do so at any rate faster than a snail's. Her fear for the worst only began to grow as she noticed how little the two of them were moving.

"...Wait... Th-they're okay!" shouted Kit, "I-I'm still detecting vital signs from them! They're just being affected by Heavy Acceleration." Relief washed over Jady's system.

"So then...those are your friends then?" But that relief was washed away by a flood of panic as Heart's voice rang in her ears. The way he began to chuckle made her stomach churn. By the time he made his first step towards the broken-down Mirage, she already knew that her worries were justified. She steeled her jaw as she fought against the pain to try to rise, but even with the abilities of Drive, she couldn't find the strength to climb back up to her feet.

"HEART!" she screamed, "DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON THOSE TWO!"

"Oh don't worry," he called back in a tone more unsettling than it needed to be, "I just wanna make your friends _my_ friends!"

Jady's mind began to race and adrenaline pumped through her system. She wasn't even back up on her knees yet, and Flynn and Amber weren't too far away from where Heart was. "J-Jady-san!" shouted Kit, "W-we have another problem!" An arrow guided her vision over to the building Mirage had crashed into. The building itself appeared to be crumbling in on itself. But it wasn't until Kit began to highlight several furs in the _upper floor_ of the building that Jady understood what the problem was. "W-with my calculations, w-we can save them if we Shift Up, b-but w-we wouldn't have time to save Amber and Flynn!"

"WHAT?!"

"J-Jady-san, what do we do?!"

That was what she wanted to ask _him_! Or Flynn! Or Amber! Or ANYONE that wasn't her! How could she decide?! She didn't know! How _could_ she know?! If she saved those civilians, then she'd be giving Flynn and Amber up to Heart! If she saved Flynn and Amber, then she'd be abandoning those civilians to die under the rubble! But if she saved the civilians, they would probably just be taken by Heart and his Roidmudes ANYWAYS! Her heart was pounding in her chest and her head was beginning to feel light. She had to choose, but she had no idea which choice was right!

"Jady-san, you need to get up!"

Panic rushed through her mind again as she realized she hadn't budged an inch. Squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth, she used her adrenaline rush to shove herself back onto her feet. Hot pains washed over her chest and her mind began to race once again. Friends. Civilians. Friends. Civilians. Friends! Civilians! Friends! Civilians! FRIENDS! CIVILIANS! FRIENDS! CIVILIANS!

With an anguished wail, she reached down and turned Kit's key before grabbing the Shift Car and Shifting Up three times in a row.

 **SPE-SPE-SPECIAL!**

The jolts of electricity that surged through her body spurred her on as she shot down the road and burst through the door of the collapsing building. She did her best not to think about who she was abandoning as she raced her way up the stairs. She added further property damage to the owner of this condemned building as she crashed through door after door, only stopping once she finally found where all of the frozen civilians were.

"Please hurry, Jady-san! We only have two and a half minutes before-"

"I get it, Kit! I'm on it!" And on it she was. She charged right up to the fur in closest proximity to her and grabbed onto him. With Heavy Acceleration still in effect, she was able to tug him along in the air like an oversized balloon all the way down the stairs. Once they were back out on the streets, she righted him in a generally up-right standing position and rushed right back inside.

"I counted at least four civilians, Jady-san! Three left!" Jady made sure to repeat the number in her head over and over again; it was likely the only reason she wasn't thinking about how vulnerable her friends were to Heart and all of the other Roidmudes currently surrounding the area.

Another civilian reached, and another wrist grabbed. Like the first, Jady dragged the fur through the air as she quickly descended back down the stairs. She tried to not notice how warped the building was progressively becoming and to focus on keeping the rescued fur from hitting anything on their way down. Within no time, she made it out and tossed the civilian out towards the other one, who still hung in the air.

"Jady-san! Heart has-"

"KIT! DON'T TELL ME!"

"G-gomen! I'm sorry-"

"SHUT IT AND LET ME FOCUS!" She had to choke down tears as she raced back up the stairs, angrily knocking away the debris hanging in the air in front of her. She berated herself in her choice to grab the nearest fur the first time as she now had to spend extra time just _getting_ to the others. It didn't help either that the floor was no longer at an even angle. She had to run at a tilt in order to get to the stairs, which also weren't as straight as they once were. Her chest wasn't just hurting from the pain of her injuries anymore; her lungs burned with it being worked to its limits. This at least gave her something else to focus on as she powered her way through all of the hanging debris to make it out of the doorway.

Her heart skipped a beat as she suddenly realized that the first two civilians she had tossed were no longer where she had left them. "Jady-san, they're up above!" She looked up to where Kit's arrow was guiding her and saw a pair of Roidmudes flying off with both furs in tow. "Only one minute left, Jady-san!" With anger and anguish both boiling up in the same pot, Jady had a hard time deciding to toss her most recent rescue out into the open. Not giving herself any time to hesitate any further, she whirled around and shot off at break-neck speed. Her battle to rush back up the stairs was about as difficult as her battle to not think about the people she was leaving behind. Even MORE debris was hanging in the air, and the stairs were _heavily_ warped. Not to mention that the ceiling was far closer to the ground than it had been initially.

She was forced to duck and weave her way through the building before she could finally reach the room containing the last civilian. "Hurry! Thirty seconds left! Hayaku! Hayaku!" Jady kicked off of her heels and shot around for the stairs, only to stop as she realized that there were no longer any stairs to shoot for. In fact, there wasn't even a doorway to run through left; everything beyond the room she stood in was now reduced to rubble and debris. She looked up and saw that the room itself didn't have much time left either. The roof was getting _frighteningly_ closer to the ground, and being there when it met the floor was the _last_ thing she wanted to do. She frantically looked around for an exit she might have overlooked and found nothing of the sort.

"JADY-SAN!" The roof was too close; she had to make a decision NOW. She whirled around to face her one and only answer. A single window. She had armor on, she had a tire wrapped around her chest, and she'd only be falling from a two story building. She HOPED that all of that would be enough for what she was planning to do next.

She tightened her grip on the civilian, dug her heels into the ground and turned her shoulder to the front before barreling forward one final time and CRASHING through the window. She hugged the civilian close to her chest as she left behind the crumbling building and plummeted towards the ground. A wall of pain assaulted her system as soon as her back bounced off of the pavement. The shock of the blow made her lose her grip on the fur and roll down the road. She was sprawled across the ground when she finally stopped, her gaze fixated on the sky and her body paralyzed with pain. Alarms were blaring in her ears and her eyes were filled with charts highlighting the injuries she had just taken.

Full-on broken ribs and internal bleeding.

"Jady-san! JADY-SAN!" Kit screamed in absolute horror, trying to get _some_ sort of response out of her. "Jady-san...PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!" A low groan escaped her throat. In a dazed state, she let her head fall to the side and saw the still broken-down Mirage. It was completely empty now; Amber and Flynn were nowhere in sight. She heard fluttering nearby, and soon after a winged Roidmude flew off with her most recent rescue. "Wait! Heart-san, don't! She's hurt!" Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her by her helmet's fin and _yanked_ her up off the ground. She then found herself face to face with Heart.

"Well, well... Look at _you_... You must feel like _such_ a hero... Well don't give yourself that much credit. If you and _your_ friends hadn't tried to stop us, none of that would've ever happened. Those people were put in danger because of YOU. You only did what you _should've_ done in return. And before you ask...NO...that WASN'T enough."

"Heart-san, onegai! Please don't hurt her! She needs help!"

Heart lowered his gaze down to the belt and a smile spread across his face. "Aaaahhh...I'd almost forgotten about you, friend..." His other hand reached out and clasped Kit. The sight of this made Jady's heart pound, sending shocks of adrenaline through her system again. Feebly, she grabbed onto the Roidmude's offending arm and tried to pry it off. But judging from how little Heart reacted, it was clear that all she was doing was annoying him. "Now let's see here..."

"N-nani kore, Heart-san?!" Kit cried in fear. Hearing this made Jady pull harder, but as soon as her body reminded her of the shape she was in, her grip slackened and her arms fell down to her sides.

"Let me just..." he trailed off as he began to pull on the large buckle of the belt. The belt itself began to strain against Jady's waist, soon prompting a cry of pain from her.

"HEART! N-NANI SHITERU NO?!" Heart only pulled harder at the belt, making her feel as though she was being ripped in half. "HEART?!"

"I'm just...trying...to pull you off..." he answered simply, "Why won't you...come off?"

"JADY-SAN!" Kit screamed over Jady's wails of turmoil. "YAMETE KURE HEART!" The charts flashing in her UI told Kit far too much about how much peril the feline was in. Unable to take the pained screams of his friend for any longer, Kit ended her misery by unclasping the belt from her waist. Right away, Jady's armor disappeared and she was released from Heart's hands. She collapsed onto the ground like a pile of bricks and breathed heavily. Her body was still riddled with pain and it made moving an impossibility. It hardly mattered to Heart, though, as his interests were focused on the object in his hand. "Jady-san! Say something! Please! Onegai-"

"Oh don't be bothered with her, friend," the Roidmude cut in dismissively, "She's hardly worth your time."

"B-but she's hurt! She needs medical attention-"

"Oh friend," Heart cut him off again, "so riddled with fear and pain... Don't worry, I'll change that very soon."

"Heart, please, take Jady-san to a hospital! She needs help!"

Heart scoffed at him. "Someone like her is _beyond help_ , friend." At that, he began to walk away.

"W-wait!" Kit hesitated; at this rate, there was only one way Jady was going to get any help. "Aren't you...going to make _Jady-san_ your friend?"

Heart stopped in his tracks. He stared down at Kit before slowly turning to where Jady lay. When he finally chose to speak, his tone was jarringly monotone. "A person like her has _no place_ in my Paradise..."

Had Kit had a heart, it most certainly would have dropped at that point.

"Now _you_ on the other hand," the Roidmude went on, returning his earlier stride, "you're something that my Paradise _needs_. I've been needing a second in command for the longest time and could never find a friend worthy of the position. But that's changed with _you_ , someone that's _already_ like us-" He stopped as Jady's Shift Car zipped through the air and struck him on the side of the head. It swung around and struck him again on the other side. Before it could escape, Heart swatted it out of the air and it cracked against the street. Kit panicked more the longer it stayed on the ground. That had been his last-ditch effort. Now not only was Jady horribly injured, she was also left unprotected against Heavy Acceleration. If there had been even the slightest chance of her moving before, there was NO chance of that now.

"JADY-SAN!" Kit screamed out helplessly, "JADY-SAAAAAN!" Heart only clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"Oh friend...I'll forgive you for that this time. You'll know better in due time. Now come along." Kit's pleading cries continued to echo through the sky. Not even one of them went noticed by Jady as she had fallen unconscious long ago. Thus, she'd never know how fortunate she was to not have to lay there helplessly and listen to pleas she couldn't answer.

* * *

"KI-" Jady began coughing immediately as she jolted awake, choking until she managed to ease herself back down. She clutched a paw to her chest; sharp pains flared up with every breath she took. As she lay there staring at the sky, dread began to fill her system. She didn't want to believe the memories from earlier were true. She had to work up the courage to clear her throat and call out, "...K...Kit?"

No answer.

"...Amber?"

Still none.

"...Flynn?"

Again, nothing.

"...Anyone?" By the time she had called that out, she already knew it had been a pointless attempt. She sucked in a big breath before _forcing_ herself through the pain to sit herself up. Once she was up, she propped herself up with her arms and allowed herself to finally wince from all of the sharp pains riddling her body.

When she opened her eyes again, she was finally able to see how alone she was. The city was absolutely devoid of all other life. Not a single thing moved, making her wonder if the Heavy Acceleration really had passed or not. Before she had the chance to stop herself, she looked over to Mirage and saw that its seats were completely empty. Jady felt a knot form in her stomach and she had to fight the urge to vomit. They were gone. All of them. Flynn. Amber. Those people she had rescued. Kit... They were all gone. They were in Heart's hands now. Her eyes fell down to find her Shift Car left on the side of the road. It was cracked, warped, and she was unsure if it even worked anymore. She instinctively reached out to grab it.

 _"GREAT. Isn't GOOD ENOUGH."_

She froze. Flynn's words were echoing in her head. Dread began to fill Jady's head as she came to a gut-wrenching realization.

He had been right all along.

She _hadn't_ been ready for something like this. She'd been _wildly_ unprepared to deal with a situation like this. This was all her fault. Now, because of her, everyone in the city was at the mercy of that psychotic robot. And it was _all because_ she'd just wanted to _prove herself_. Everyone was in danger because she felt the need to win an incredibly petty _argument_.Literally _everything_ that was happening now wouldn't have been happening if she'd simply NOT made so many stupid choices. Rushing in without any sort of plan. Choosing to fight even with all of the injuries she had. Not letting Flynn become Drive even when Kit was okay with the idea of getting erased. Letting Heart explain himself and transform that helpless civilian right in front of her. Leaving the ice rink even after Flynn AND Amber told her not to. TAKING THAT STUPID WALK IN THE FIRST PLACE.

A hiccup got caught in her throat, causing her to choke and bring her paws up to her neck. After letting out a few coughs, she hugged her arms around her frame and shuddered. Her eyes stung and she closed her eyes, squeezing out hot tears that streamed down her cheeks. A different kind of pain was tearing at her body now, a kind that no medicine could ever truly suppress. Her sobs only fell upon her own ears as there were no others around for them to fall upon. She was experiencing a loneliness like no other. She couldn't even hear her own sobs anymore. She could only hear her inner voice ruthlessly berate her and belittle her. She was undoubtedly, unquestionably, undeniably...a failure.

Without realizing it, she allowed her eyes to open again. After wiping more tears away, she found herself looking back down on the Shift Car she had left on the street. Her thoughts went to Kit. "...I'm sorry, buddy..." she mumbled, barely managing a croak, "I should've just let you sacrifice yourself... Probably would'a saved you the trouble... Now Amber, Flynn _and_ you are as good as dead. Some hero I am, am I right?"

No response. Of _course_ there was no response.

"Sorry I couldn't save you guys... Sorry I'm so incompetent at this... Sorry I didn't let you n' Flynn be the _real_ heroes... Sorry I'm such..." She choked as her throat suddenly closed up. "...Sorry I'm such a selfish little moron... Sorry I'm a stupid, worthless...idiotic screw up that's never done anything right in her entire life..." She hugged the small device to her chest and continued to weep. She felt so helpless now. Flynn and Amber weren't around to guide her. Kit was taken away, meaning she couldn't even transform and try to rescue him. And Mirage...

She stopped.

She'd completely forgotten about its self-repair system. Looking up, she saw that the car had repaired itself a fair amount by now. With a huge amount of strain, she crawled her way over to the vehicle and climbed back into the driver's seat. Everything was almost perfectly intact. The seats were a little messed up and some of the compartments had popped open, but everything else looked in working order. Her eyes lit up as she saw a couple of capsules. She immediately grabbed them up and swallowed them down. She knew they wouldn't take effect right away, but the knowledge that at least some of her pain was going to be relieved set her mind at ease.

She glanced at the other compartment. Lights were coming out of it. Confused, she lifted up its panel and saw a trio of Shift Cars being worked on by mechanisms inside of the dashboard. It took her a moment to remember that these were what Amber was working on the day before, the ones meant to help her defeat Heart. She frowned. They...wouldn't be any use to her now...

She tried to distract herself from the thought by hitting the ignition button. Her heart leapt as Mirage's engine responded in kind. She reached for the wheel only to freeze in place. What was she gonna do with this? She barely knew how to drive; Kit had been the one aiding her the entire time, she was vaguely acquainted with all of the gear and gadgets the car had to offer, and Heart's army was probably MASSIVE by now!

Her ears lowered and flattened against her head. Her best bet now was to just drive away and try to hide from the inevitable end of the world. To try and fend for herself and survive on her own. Sure, all of her friends were in mortal danger, and the rest of the world was probably next on the chopping block. Sure, she wanted more than anything to save them all and make up for arguably her stupidest mistake ever. But at the same time, she didn't even have a _plan_!Running and hiding was the most practical and logical move to take. After all, trying to rescue her friends and take down Heart as she was now would practically be suicide. The worst choice she could possibly make. An unbelievably STUPID DECISION!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"...Good thing I'm such an idiot."

With new found conviction, she pulled Mirage out of the rubble before slamming her foot down on the gas pedal. Off in the distance, she could see the outlines of several airborne Roidmudes circling the sky. That was her next stop. Fortunately for her, the roads were completely clear, meaning she had little to worry about in terms of hitting something. She tried her best not to think about _why_ the roads were so empty and instead to focus on thinking about how she was going to take Heart down. She still couldn't outright destroy him; he was the only way she was going to bring everyone back to normal. Then there was his army of Roidmudes, each one she couldn't destroy either. That meant she'd have to somehow subdue each and every robot she came across. And considering how unacquainted she was with Mirage's gadgets, she needed to be able to learn from the get-go.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her eyes caught movement in the distance. Roidmudes were scaling a two-story building, one of which was crawling up its walls like a spider and another circling around the roof with its wings before diving in through a window. It emerged out of it to toss a frozen hostage to the spider-like Roidmude, who caught it in its arms before tossing her towards the ground. Jady's heart rate ceased its mad spasm as soon as she realized that the hostage fell safely into a large cobweb, one that she assumed had been made by the spider Roidmude.

"Well, I need the practice," Jady shrugged, "They'll do just fine!" She quickly glanced down at the wheel and spotted the controls of the only two gadgets she'd gotten acquainted to; the Gatling gun and the grappling hook. Her thumb hovered over the Gatling gun controls as Mirage quickly closed in on her new target. When the winged Roidmude emerged from the window with another hostage in its arms, Jady used her other paw to blast the horn. Both Roidmudes immediately turned their sights onto the racing vehicle and paused in their work. _Here we go-here we go-here we go,_ she chanted to herself as the winged Roidmude swooped towards her.

She pulled the trigger on the wheel's gun control and a reticle appeared on the windshield. It began to fidget and flick as soon as her thumb found the wheel's thumb-stick. She snarled as she fought to align the reticle with the flying Roidmude, which was rapidly closing in. Alarms blared in her ears as she was alerted to a net of spider-webs sailing towards her. Her heart throbbed and her gut sank as she _threw_ herself to the side and narrowly swerved Mirage out of the way. This left her with even less time to shoot, and by the time she managed to drive straight again, the Roidmude was upon her. She closed her eyes just before the Roidmude slammed into the windshield. She cringed at the force of the impact, surprised that it wasn't enough to prompt Mirage's airbags from deploying.

Snapping her eyes back open, she glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw the Roidmude in the midst of swinging back around, seemingly unphased from the impact. _This'd be easier if I could just stay in place!_ she thought, _but then spider-bot over there'll catch me, n' it'll be all over then!_ As if on cue, she was alerted to another web-net coming her way. She swerved away again and was thrown to the side of the car as she nearly lost control. Her heart was racing as fast as Mirage was skidding down the road. "KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" With a frantic scream, she pushed herself to the other side of the car and pulled the wheel along with her. The car swerved again and again until she finally managed to sit straight again. She fought the urge to cry then and there as she thought of how much she needed Kit now.

Jady screamed again as the winged Roidmude slammed into the back of the car and flew by. "JUST STEP OFF, WILL YOU?!" she snarled harshly, pounding her fist against the wheel, "WHAT I'D DO TO JUST DISAPPEAR RIGHT-"

 _"Can it like...go invisible like a mirage?"_

 _"That's...not how mirages work, but yeah. This button right here."_

 _"NO FRIGGIN WAY."_

Her heart leapt at the sudden recollection of her time with Amber and her eyes shot over to the wheel. She hunted down the right button and jammed her thumb into it the second it was found. She snapped her eyes back up right away as Mirage's entire frame began to hum with vibrations. With the winged Roidmude circling back around and careening back down towards her, she began to have doubts that she had hit the right button. Even more so when the alarms alerted her to another spider-net coming her way. Her paws began to tremble; she couldn't avoid both of them at once and she had no clue how much more damage Mirage could afford. Squeezing down on the wheel and clenching her jaw, she hit the brakes and braced herself for what was to come. "Alright you walking buckets! COME AT ME!" With both the Roidmude and spider-net closing in fast and failure coming in right around the corner, Jady decided to face defeat head on with her head held high.

But failure turned out to be tardy today, as both the net and the Roidmude fell just short of Mirage. Jady almost felt sure that her heart was on a bungee cord with how much it was leaping today. The knowledge that she had actually succeeded this time was making her feel rejuvenated and energized. She rode off of that energy by slamming on the gas pedal and shooting down the road again. She threw Mirage into a U-turn only to stop then and there. Her thumb quickly found the turret's thumb stick and she began to line the reticle back up with the airborne Roidmude. "You got this, Jady! Just gotta hit those wings!" Her index finger fidgeted over the trigger as though it was just _itching_ to pull it.

Her heart jumped as a bullet was suddenly sent flying. It sailed wildly off course and only served to catch the attention of both Roidmudes. Jady snarled loudly and tossed precision to the wind. She sated her trigger-happy fingers by letting loose a barrage of bullets from the turret. The bullets sailed through the sky and chased after the winged Roidmude, who dove up and down to try and evade them all.

The alarms suddenly alerted her to another incoming web-net. Her thumb fumbled with the control stick before she was able to turn the turret and obliterate the web out of the air. She yelped as the winged Roidmude slammed its claws against the side of Mirage, making the car violently rock from side to side and cease in its humming. "Alright Batman, you wanna go? Then let's GO!" She grabbed the stick shift and put Mirage into reverse. She slammed down on the pedal and zoomed down the street. "EAT LEAD!" Jady shouted as she pulled down on the trigger again. The bat Roidmude had barely enough time to swoop away from the _river_ of bullets coming its way. Try as it might, it failed to escape completely unscathed. Several bullets caught one of its wings, and the Roidmude began to plummet towards the ground.

Before Jady could celebrate, it managed to right itself and shoot back up to the sky. The panther cursed to herself as she threw herself to the side again and whipped Mirage around. She quickly shifted it back into drive before shooting down the street, once again pursued by the bat Roidmude. Looking in her rear-view mirror, she noticed the Roidmude was having a difficult time staying very high in the air. At the highest, it was at roof-level with all of the buildings around it.

That gave her an idea.

After checking if the bat Roidmude was still on her tail, she threw Mirage into a right turn. She checked her mirrors again, and sure enough, the Roidmude was still after her. Thus, she made another sudden right turn. The bat Roidmude's resilience was apparent as it swooped around another corner to continue its chase. Jady's heart pounded in her chest as she tried to focus on the road, counting each building she zoomed past one by one. Closer... Closer... CLOSER... She tensed up before THROWING herself into yet another hard turn, burning rubber as Mirage skidded into the next street. The Roidmude remained true to its resilience and made the turn as well, swooping wide as it kept its eyes on the prize. Because of this, it failed to take notice of the large spider-webs in its way before it was too late.

It crashed into the spider Roidmude's webs, causing it to whip back and forth like a rubber band with the bat Roidmude trapped within before returning to normal. Jady hollered out a cry of victory and thrust her fist in the air. "THAT'S ONE POINT TO JADY! YOU CATCH THAT FLYNN-" Her composure dropped just for a second, even if it felt like much longer than that, but it was enough time for the spider Roidmude to leap out from its web and onto the next building undetected. Mirage's alarms snapped her out of her daze in time to notice a web-net fast approaching. She slammed her foot on the pedal and zoomed away in reverse, leaving the net to land on the ground in front of her. Her paw went back to the turret controls and her gaze locked onto the Roidmude that was now crawling across the walls of the nearby buildings like a true spider. "Bring it, Spiderman! I just took down BATMAN!"

With each leap to a new building, the Roidmude hurled another net at her. The frequency of them made it hard for Jady to focus both on shooting them out of the sky and keeping Mirage in a straight path. Even with how well she was managing this, it was only a matter of time before she failed at one of those tasks. That task turned out to be driving straight in reverse, as she ended up crashing the back of the car into a nearby shop. She flinched as the back of her head slammed into the head of her seat, wincing again as her face slammed into the deployed airbags. She cushioned her face with a paw as she looked around. Dread flooded her system as she saw red splashed all over the walls of the building she was now inside, only to calm herself as she noticed all of the other paint colors that were hanging in the air.

Her heart skipped a beat as a familiar face swung down from above. The spider Roidmude was climbing down the wall she had busted open and was now making its way over to her. She tried to reach for the controls, only to realize that the airbag was keeping her from getting to them. She tried to reach for the shift stick and ended up with the same problem. She looked around frantically in an effort to try and figure out something, but all she could see was paint, paint, and more paint. Left with nothing but a few seconds and pure desperation, Jady slammed down on the pedal. Mirage's tire screeches filled her ears as the car forced itself up against the other wall. Suddenly, paint shot out from beneath Mirage and flew DIRECTLY into the Roidmude's eyes. The robot flinched and reached for them, trying to wipe away the color that had stained its eyes.

Jady wasn't looking this gift horse in the mouth. After shoving the airbag back down into the wheel, Jady shifted into drive and slammed her foot on the pedal again. Just before she could zoom by, the Roidmude managed to flail its arms against Mirage and latch on. She screamed as it spat webs at the car's back, keeping it in place and causing more tire screeches to fill her ears. Her heart began to beat at a furious pace as the Roidmude's strength kept her from stretching the webs very far. She looked back and forth between freedom and captivity, with both sandwiching her in the middle.

 _"Yup. It's got grappling hooks too. This button right here."_

Her eyes lit up as another of Amber's lessons flashed in her head. She shoved more of the airbag away again and jammed her thumb into the appropriate button. Right on cue, a grappling hook deployed from the front of the car and latched onto a sewer drain. She pressed it again and it began to reel back, straining as soon as it hit its limit. Jady floored Mirage, making its tires screech to the point that smoke was coming out. She added her own cries to the crescendo as she tensed her entire body. Sooner or later, something was going to give, and for all she was worth, she hoped it wasn't the grappling hook. Her hopes slowly began to die out as she saw the sidewalk begin to crack, even managing to catch the sounds of creaking and cracking amongst all of the chaos.

She screamed as a loud SNAP rang out and Mirage shot forward like a bullet. She threw herself to the side and slammed down on the breaks just before the vehicle could crash into the building in front, resulting in her drifting to a stop facing the other direction. She looked back inside the paint shop to see that, not only had the webs snapped, but the Roidmude's arms had been ripped off as well. And with it effectively blinded and disarmed (in the most literal sense possible), she could say with absolute certainty that this one wouldn't be bothering anyone anytime soon. She hollered out another victory cry as she turned around and shot down the street again. "Better WATCH yourself, Heart!" she shouted, "I'm comin' for you next!"

* * *

Heart leaned comfortably into his make-shift throne. The seat of welded scrap metal was mounted upon a pile of broken car parts. He waved to his newest friends as they departed the car shop he had set up in. The crimson Roidmude swung his legs with glee, happy to be making so many new friends in such a short amount of time. It almost made him forget about that one insolent little rat that had GOTTEN IN HIS WAY AND-

He stopped himself as soon as he realized his hand was crushing the arm-rest of his throne. It was hard not to grow heated whenever he thought of Jady; that insolent little feline had not only hurt his friends, but had also threatened his way of life. Who was _she_ to question his methods and beliefs? And in such a violent way too. Despicable. Absolutely disgusting. Undoubtedly unforgivable! COMPLETELY DISGRACEFUL- He was doing it again. He released the intact arm-rest from his hand, allowing the now glowing-red metal to hiss and cool in the open air. That girl was going to be the end of him. He swore he could hear the sounds of her engine ripping through the air...

His head shot up; no, he could actually hear it. Off in the distance, he could make out the outlines of her car as it tore down the barren streets of the city. He stood up and descended from his throne, flexing his fingers and breathing heavily. "This girl just doesn't know when to quit..."

Jady narrowed her eyes as Heart's silhouette entered her eyesight. A mixture of fear and anger began to brew within her, with each side fighting for dominance. Preferring fear to not take over her, she allowed her anger to boil to the extreme and floored the gas pedal. She brought up the turret's reticle and opened fire immediately. Heart shielded himself with his arms as the bullets pelted his carapace.

He eventually tossed one of his arms out towards her, making her think that he was about to give in. It took only a few seconds for her to realize this wasn't the case, as an unseen blast of concentrated heat PLOWED against Mirage and knocked it off course. Jady let out a scream as she struggled to right the vehicle and failed at every level. Its tires screeched until Mirage itself crashed into some broken down rubble, making it deploy the airbags and trap the panther inside. She snarled and tried to shove it back down, but a loud THUMP on the front of the car took her attention away. A Roidmude had hopped onto the hood of the car and was staring her right in the eyes. But her eyes didn't stay on its face for long, as her attention was quickly drawn to a certain accessory it was wearing.

Kit's belt.

The shock of seeing it now gave the Roidmude Kit enough time to reach for the door and tear it open. Jady yelped and braced herself for the effects of Heavy Acceleration, but she found herself tumbling to the ground like normal as Roidmude Kit yanked her out of the driver's seat. She wasn't given much time to question this fact as she was grabbed by her arms and dragged towards Heart, who had since returned to the top of his throne. With her focus on Kit's new Roidmude body, Jady didn't notice them standing right in front of Heart's throne until after he let out a scowl of disgust.

"You have some nerve showing up with a greeting like that, _girl_ ," he spat. Jady didn't even flinch. "If you're here to ask if you can join my Paradise, then this is _certainly_ not the way to ask."

"I could care LESS about your stupid Paradise!" Jady snapped, her tone masking her inner dread.

"How DARE you!" Jady's gut wrenched; Kit had begun to speak, "Heart-sama gives you the grace of mercy and you SPIT at his efforts!" Jady wasn't sure what unsettled her more, the fact that Kit's voice was coming out of this Roidmude, or the fact that Kit was openly putting Heart on a pedestal.

"Enough, friend," Heart held his hand up, and Roidmude Kit backed off, "Now listen, you insignificant worm, you're wasting your time here if you think you can ever join my Paradise. Someone like you doesn't _deserve_ such a utopia. 108, take her away. Make sure that she _never_ returns."

"Ryokai, Heart-sama." At that, Kit seized Jady by the arm again and dragged her away from Heart's throne.

"N-no wait!" the panther snarled, struggling against Kit's grip, "Where's Amber and Flynn?! What did you do to them?!" Heart didn't answer, instead choosing to lean back in his throne and wave her goodbye. Fury boiled in Jady once more, and she fought harder. "You psychopathic MONSTER! What did you DO TO THEM?!"

"URUSAI! Enough out of you!" boomed Kit, nearly scaring the soul right out of her as he yanked her closer and forced her to face him right in the eyes, "I won't take your disrespect to Heart-sama for any longer!"

"...K...Kit..." Jady trembled, "Don't you recognize me? I-it's _me_ , _Jady_...your _friend_!"

"I could never be friends with someone so _vile_ towards Heart-sama," Kit growled, his words digging deeper than any wound could ever reach, "He has opened my eyes to how twisted and foul you are."

Despite how her throat was closing up on her, Jady fought back with more pleas, "Kit this isn't YOU! Remember all of the times we spent together! All of our training! All of our talks! Can't you remember ANY of it?!"

"Oh I remember! Hai, I remember how you attacked my friends when you didn't have to! Because of Heart-sama, I finally recognized how much of a horrible person you are!" In that moment, Jady felt as though her own heart had been picked up off the ground only to be hurled back down and STOMPED on. With the subject promptly dropped, Kit tightened his grip on her and dragged her along roughly. The action elicited a cry of pain from her.

"K-Kit, slow down! That hurts!"

"Suck it up, _kisama..._ " The utter lack of care in Kit's voice left Jady in shambles. This wasn't Kit; this _thing_ had replaced him. If the real Kit was anywhere in there, it was _deep_ inside...whoever it was that had replaced him. Whatever had been done to him was beyond anything she could fix with heart-felt words alone. "Hurry up!" urged Kit, yanking her along harder, "Hayaku hayaku!" Jady gnawed at her bottom lip. That was it, Heart had won. Mirage was out of her reach and getting Kit back had been her last shot. And to add insult to injury, she didn't even have the luxury of being peacefully dragged through the air from the Heavy Acceleration.

But...why _wasn't_ she affected?

She wasn't Drive, she was just plain-old Jady. The only times she could move normally out of her armor were when she was inside Mirage and when she was holding a Shift Car. Her eyes widened and she immediately shoved her free paw into her pocket. Yes! It was in there! Her Shift Car! Sure, there were a few cracks, but it was obviously still working. It almost felt fitting, being brought to the end of the world hanging onto one of the items that started it all. And to think, all it had taken was a key-turn and a crank... Her eyes wandered over to the other item, Kit's belt.

Her brow began to furrow; a new, crazy idea had taken shape in her head. It seemed too farfetched to work, but she was out of plausible and logical ideas. She took one last glance at Kit's belt, then a glance at his wrist. She had no idea if she was actually going to be able to pull this off, but she'd already been doing things she never thought she'd do for the past month. So without even a hint of hesitation, Jady unstrapped her brace from her wrist and clamped it onto _Kit's_ wrist.

"Nani?!" The Roidmude immediately stopped and began to pull away, making it harder for Jady to properly buckle the brace on him. She bore her teeth as she fought to keep his wrist level, but his strength was just TOO much for her to handle outside of her armor. Eventually deciding to just hang onto dear life with both arms, she managed to secure it to Kit's wrist after several minutes of flailing about. "Nani kore, kono yarou?!" Kit growled as he fought to shrug her off. Jady remained vigilant as she shot her arm out to turn the belt's key. "Yamero! Stop!"

Stopping was the last thing on her mind. She'd already bet everything on the line for this plan. With a loud, defiant growl, Jady dug into her pocket and ripped out the Shift Car. "If this got you here once, it'll get you here again!" She hung on for dear life as Kit tried to hurl her away. "KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" With one final scream, Jady raised her arm up and JAMMED the Shift Car into the Shift Brace with enough force to crank it. Both items sparked wildly, making Jady flinch and lose her grip on Kit's arm. She was thrown into the air as a result and hung there as still as a statue once Heavy Acceleration claimed her body. The Roidmude continued to thrash around, however, as the sparks spread to the belt, and by extension, his entire body. He guarded his head with his hands as he balled up, staggering back with each spark.

"What's wrong, friend?!" came Heart's voice, the crimson Roidmude having arrived before Kit had noticed, "Are you hurt?! Did that low-life hurt you?!"

"I-I don't know," Kit stammered, "She did something, but I don't know what exactly!" Heart scowled and turned to Jady's frozen form.

"I knew I should've just gotten rid of her then and there." He raised an arm and splayed out his fingers, producing an immense amount of heat above them. "Don't worry, friend. I'll get rid of her NOW."

"Wh-what did you say?"

"Don't worry, 108," Heart reeled his arm back, "This won't take but a moment." Just before he could reduce the furry bag of flesh to ashes, he felt a set of arms restrain his own. This on its own was already confusing, but what was even more confusing was the fact that it was Kit who was responsible. "FRIEND! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I-I don't know, Heart-sama!" he shouted, "B-but I don't think I can let you hurt her!"

"Who CARES about her?!" Heart roared back as he struggled against Kit's grip, "She's nothing but a nuisance! Now let me go so I can get RID of her!"

"Da me! Don't!" Kit shook his head frantically, "Don't hurt Jady-san!"

"You DARE command **ME**?!" Heart reached over and tore one of Kit's arms off of his own, "I command **YOU, you ungrateful SWINE!** " After shoving him forward, Kit _hurled_ his other arm at Kit, blasting him in the face with the concentrated heat that had been meant for Jady. Kit screamed as the attack exploded against him, the force of it all blasting both him and Heart himself flying backwards. Parts were blown off of Kit before he crashed into Jady's still floating body, leading to the two of them bouncing off of the pavement a couple of times before stopping.

"KIT!" Jady screamed as soon as gravity rushed back to normal around her. As she tried to shove his body off of him, the arm wearing her brace snapped off and remained in Jady's paw. Stricken with horror, she pocketed the Shift Car and clamored over his body to grasp his head in both paws. "KIT! KIT SPEAK TO ME!" She didn't even care that she was staring into the face of a Roidmude. She had heard him; Kit, the REAL Kit. She was SURE she had heard him back there. "Kit! Kit come on buddy, don't leave me! Not now! I just got you back Kit...I JUST GOT YOU BACK!" She shook his head, her breathing growing shallower with each second of silence that passed by. "COME BAAAAAAACK!"

Jady collapsed into tears and pressed her forehead against the limp Roidmude's. He had been there... _right in front of her_. He had returned, only to be blown to smithereens. She never even got the chance to welcome him back. Never got the chance to thank him. "...I never even got to say...goodbye..."

"But Jady-san, goodbyes are for when you leave someone."

Jady's eyes shot open. She sat up and looked down at the Roidmude's waist. Tears of joy flooded her eyes as she found lights beaming from the belt's face. "Tasukatta. You saved me, Jady-san..."

"KIT!" Jady shrieked with overflowing joy, prying the belt off of the Roidmude's body and holding it up high, "But how-"

"I know how to reverse the mind transplant now! After you activated the belt, Heart's emotional hold on me wore off! Then I was able to reverse engineer how Heart transferred me from the belt to the Roidmude body!"

"Kit..." Jady's voice trembled and her lip quivered. She tried to speak further, but her throat closed up on her before she could. She heard him laugh.

"Jady-san, you always tell me that I talk too much, but you never realized that you did the same. So let's save our words of compassion for later, yes?"

Jady smiled and wiped her nose before nodding. "You're right Kit...we've still got a world to save..." Jady pushed herself off of the Roidmude and stood up, slowly turning around to see Heart doing the same. She stared him down as his head rose.

"You...little... **WORM!** " he screamed, curling his fingers into claws as steam began to rise from his body, "WHY must you ruin **EVERYTHING?! Can't you see I'm trying to bring PEACE?!** "

"You still don't get it, do you?!" Jady shouted back, "What you're doing is anything BUT peaceful!"

"Heart!" shouted Kit, "Your ambitions are noble! I understand them! Demo, but the methods you've chosen only bring harm to others! You are tearing people away from their own lives!"

"You criticize me for hurting your friends," Jady chimed back in, "yet here you are doing the EXACT SAME THING!"

" **SHUT UP!** " Heart screamed back, " **YOU-YOU POMPOUS, INSIGNIFICANT, FILTHY LITTLE CREATURES!** "

"Jady-san...I don't think there's any more point in trying to convince him... There's only one thing we can do for him now..."

"I know," Jady nodded, "I just wanted to make sure I got at least one heroic speech in first." She smiled as she heard Kit chuckle. With that, she slapped the buckle into place and allowed the belt to snake its way around her waist. Never once in her life did Jady think she'd feel so relieved by strapping a belt around her waist, yet here she was. Even as she stared Heart down right in the eyes, she didn't feel scared or concerned at all. How could she? Through some kind of miracle, she had somehow defied fate and reunited with Kit.

"Jady-san," he said, "are you ready?"

A smirk crossed Jady's muzzle. Feeling the adrenaline rush through her veins, she clenched her fists together and replied, "Yeah... Let's do this!"

"Ok, then start our engine!" With goosebumps creeping up her neck, Jady reached down and turned Kit's key. The belt vibrated and heated up around her waist as it revved to life. Her heart pounded as the raging Roidmude let out a roar. Steam was rising off of his armor as he rushed towards her and Kit. She clenched her teeth and tightened her grip on the Shift Car. Not this time. She wasn't going to let him get to her again. Steadying her hand, she locked the Shift Car onto her brace. She squinted her eyes as the heat radiating from Heart's body swept past her. No! Focus. Don't show him any fear. She didn't need to be scared of him anymore. She had Kit at her side. She had _Amber_ at her side. Heck, she even had _Flynn_ on her side. Heart might have had a bunch of friends on his side, but she had hers too...

"...HENSHIN!" she cried out before Shifting Up.

 **DRIVE! TYPE: SPECIAL!**

Hot lights washed over her as her armor materialized over her body. As soon as her helmet finished materializing, she raised her arm to block an overhead swing coming from Heart. She felt the force of his strike tremor through her entire body before the ground beneath her caved in around her. She strained her muscles as she tried to push Heart back. She heard him grunt as Kit's tire finally came flying in to slam into his side, knocking him out of the way before clamping around Jady's chest. As Heart rolled across the ground, Jady stepped out of the crater and tugged at her gloves.

"Better watch out, Heart!" she shouted as she crouched down, "Kit 'n I are in top-gear!" With a roar of fury, Heart stood up and hurled balls of pure heat straight at her. Grunting as she pushed herself off of one foot, she ran forward with Heart's attacks rushing past her and exploding mere feet behind her. She uttered out a battle-cry of her own, barreling towards Heart with all of her might until High Speed finally kicked in. She flew across the street and quickly closed the space between her and the evolved Roidmude. She angled herself just before impact to SLAM her shoulder into Heart's chest, delivering all of her built-up momentum to him in a single blow. Heart flew across the street again as a result, and he ended up sprawled across the ground by the time Jady regained her balance.

"Mada MADA!" Kit shouted as Jady ran at full speed towards the still-recovering Heart. As she closed in on him, she turned Kit's key and Shifted Up three times in a row.

 **SPE-SPE-SPECIAL!**

Jolts of electricity ran through her torso and down her arms, filling her with the urge to go absolutely ham on Heart. Once she closed in on him, Jady's arms shot forward at blinding speeds. She felt like a machine gun firing off its rounds as her fists became nothing but blurs, striking Heart's chest an immeasurable amount of times. Having kept her initial momentum, each blow kept him up in the air and took him along for the ride. Dull, yet satisfying aches radiated through her arms and fists with each landed punch. She lurched back before delivering an uppercut straight to his chin, sending him higher up in the air. As he fell back down, Jady reeled back and flexed her arm. "One MORE!" Like a stretched rubber band being cut, she snapped her arm forward and PLOWED her fist into Heart's face, swatting him out of the air like a fly. She screeched to a halt and flicked her now aching wrist as the Roidmude tumbled down the street like a discarded rag-doll. "THAT was for Flynn and Amber!"

When Heart finally came to a stop, he slammed his fist into the ground with fury. After clawing back up to his feet, he screamed, "MY FRIENDS! COME TO MY AID! PROTECT ME FROM THESE NAYSAYERS!" Jady's UI flared to life as she was alerted to sudden surges of movement all around her. She looked left and right to see Roidmudes emerging from buildings and rubble.

"Jady-san-"

"I don't need to know how many there are! Just highlight 'em all and warn me when they get close!"

"W-wakarimashita! Understood!" Jady's UI went crazy as it highlighted Roidmude after Roidmude. "Th-that's all I can handle at the moment!"

"I'll work with what we've got," Jady replied as she cracked her knuckles and bounced on her heels. One of the Roidmudes let out a rallying screech that prompted the others to come charging in.

"Here they come!" Jady felt her blood surge with adrenaline as one of the Roidmudes closed in on her. Jady forced herself to grab instead of punch. Getting a firm grip on it, she whirled around and hurled the Roidmude into one of the approaching ones, making both of them crash into the ground. Red lights flared in her UI before she felt claws strike at her back. Rolling with the blow and landing in a crouch, she quickly recovered to see the Roidmude that had come up from behind her. Just as she got back up, she felt arms grab her from behind and restrain her arms. She growled as she tugged against her assailant to try and free herself.

"Kit! Get 'em off of me!"

"RYOKAI!" Jady felt the armor on her chest vibrate intensely. Suddenly, the tire clamped around her began to spin at a furious pace. It sparked against the Roidmude holding her as it tore at its chest, eventually forcing it to release her.

"Bring the car over here! We're going after Heart!" No sooner had the words left her mouth than the sounds of Mirage's engine ripped through the air. The car raced down the street with Roidmudes hurling themselves out of the way to avoid being run over. It engaged its brakes and vaulted to the side, screeching to a halt just a block away from Jady and Kit. After shoving away a Roidmude, Jady barreled past the others and jumped into the car. As the door slammed closed, she slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. The back tires screeched loudly and left behind plumes of smoke before Mirage shot down the street like a bullet. Jady squinted her eyes as the acceleration forced pressure on her chest, aggravating her wound and sending spikes of pain through her body.

"Jady-san! Did the pain medication-"

"Not now!" she barked with a shake of her head, "I'll endure it! Just keep going!"

"...Wakarimashita. We'll reach Heart soon!"

"Good." Suddenly, a thought came to Jady's mind. "Hey, the Shift Cars you guys were working on, are they done yet?"

"W-well," Kit trailed off as a compartment on the dashboard opened up, revealing the rack holding the three alleged Shift Cars. "I have them, but they're not complete yet. We haven't checked for bugs-"

"They're as complete as they need to be right now!" Jady grabbed the rack and clipped it to the side of the belt. "We'll deal with the bugs as they go!"

"Ryokai!" Jady's UI flared to life again as it zeroed in on Heart, highlighting him in the distance. "I've locked onto Heart's location! I'm opening Mirage's turr-ABUNAI!" Jady flinched as one of Heart's attacks slammed into Mirage. Her UI flashed red as it alerted her to more incoming heat orbs. She grit her teeth as she tried to swerve past them all, but ultimately, she couldn't dodge them all. Alarms blared in hear ears each time one of Heart's orbs struck and shook Mirage. "We're taking too much damage! Mirage can't take much more!"

"Just slingshot me! Like you did the first time!" Jady shouted, "Do it on 3! Ready?!"

"HAI!"

"ONE!" Jady's grip on the wheel tightened as she continued to weave through Heart's attacks as best she could. "TWO!" She unbuckled herself andloosened her grip, driving straighter and popping the door open. "THREE!" At that, she slammed on the breaks and jumped right out. Jady was thrown right into High Speed with all of that built up momentum. As she raced towards the raging Roidmude, she jumped into the air and kicked her foot out. Her foot connected directly with Heart's face (something that she was starting to enjoy abusing) and he staggered back as a result. Jady grunted as she landed flat on the ground, sending sharp pains through her chest.

"Jady-san!"

"SHUT UP!" Jady cut him off as she pulled herself back up to her feet. Her heart thudded hard in her chest as she was greeted with the sight of Heart rushing towards her. Before she could stop him, his hands grabbed onto her shoulders with an unbreakable grip and he forced her into a backwards run. She hastily kicked her feet back to scrape against the gravel and bring the two of them to a stop. She had to suppress the urge to cry as hot pain began to radiate from her wound.

"YOU'RE A **MONSTER**!" Heart bellowed, steam rising off of his body as it rapidly heated up, "YOU **DARE** TEAR SOMEONE AWAY FROM PARADISE?!"

"I didn't hear Kit consent to it!" Jady snarled back, gripping Heart's arms and pushing and pulling at them with all of her might, "Actually, I didn't hear anyone consent in GENERAL! There's being forward, and then there's just being plain FORCECUL! It'd do you good to learn the DIFFERENCE!"

"PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT UNTIL THEY EXPERIENCE IT!" Heart boomed, taking a step forward and making Jady's feet scrape against the gravel once more. She began to pant heavily as the heat began to affect her from within her armor. "They must EXPERIENCE IT **FIRSTHAND**!"

"Enough, Jady-san!" Kit shouted, "There is no reasoning with him!"

"I know, KIT!" Jady growled as her feet found firm gripping on the ground once more, "We've got our friends to rescue!"

"THAT REMINDS ME!" Suddenly, Heart released her from his grip and shoved her in the chest. She cried out as she felt sharp cracks shoot through her chest. She clutched it as Heart backed away with his arms spread out to his sides. Before she could chase after him, two Roidmudes jumped out from nowhere and started attacking her. She hastily defended herself whilst fighting to regain the balance she had lost from the surprise attack.

"Don't worry, Heart!" one of them shouted.

"We'll protect you from them!" shouted the other.

Jady's heart dropped as she heard their voices. There was no mistaking who these two Roidmudes were.

Amber and Flynn.

"Yes! My friends!" Heart sighed with his hands held to the sky, "Show these two the proper path! Show them the strength of our PARADISE!" The Roidmudes both leapt forward and attacked with the same vigor as before. Jady's throat tightened as she felt a mixture of emotions well up from inside of her. Fury at Heart for the use of such dirty tactics, sorrow over knowing that she had failed to protect her closest friends, and helplessness as she struggled to find a way out of her current situation.

"HEART!" Jady screamed, "We'll make you PAY for this!"

"Jady-san! He's trying to get away again!"

"I can see that!" Jady grunted as her shoulder was struck. She brought her arm up to strike but quickly found that she didn't have it in her to retaliate. She threw her arm back down with a snarl and shouted, "Help me find a way around them!"

"I-I have an idea! Ike! MIDNIGHT SHADOW!" Jady blinked as sunlight glinted off of something shooting past her. The object zipped around and circled the two Roidmudes, confusing them and disorienting them. Jady reached down to the rack on her belt and noticed that one of the slots was empty. The suspicions this brought her were confirmed as the object zipped over to her waiting hand. She lifted it up to see that it was in fact one of the new Shift Cars. "Use it like your old Shift Car," instructed Kit as Jady removed it from her brace, "It will make it easier to maneuver around them!"

"Perfect," Jady nodded as she turned Kit's key. Without hesitation, she loaded it in and Shifted Up.

 **TIRE KOUKAN!**

The Roidmudes tried to close in on her again, but they were swiftly stopped by a purple tire flying out of the air and striking them. The tire bounced back and clamped around Jady's chest.

 **MIDNIGHT SHADOW!**

She glanced down as blades jutted out of the tire, turning it into a practical shuriken. Her heart leapt as Amber and Flynn closed in on her again. She took a step back and blinked in surprise as she suddenly found herself a good meter or two away from them. Looking up, she noticed that she had left an afterimage of herself behind that was confusing the two Roidmudes. She took another step to the side and the same thing happened, though she nearly tripped over herself as a result. After regaining her balance, she looked up and noticed Heart getting farther and farther away.

"You have a long range attack!" shouted Kit, "Raise your hand up and hurl the projectile like a Frisbee!" Following his instructions, Jady swung her arm up and felt electricity surge outwards from her fingertips. Pure plasma was surging above her hand and was forming a rapidly growing shuriken. She looked back at Heart and circled her arm around several more times before spinning around and hurling the shuriken straight at him. The shuriken curved in mid-air and veered far off to the side, striking the road that Heart had been heading towards and bursting upon impact. Heart stumbled back in surprise and tried to run the other way.

"Oh no you don't!" Jady shouted as she hurled another shuriken, trying to compensate for the curve the first had done. This one sliced through the air and narrowly missed the evolved Roidmude by a foot, tearing apart the parked car in its way. With a growl of frustration, Jady resorted to blindly throwing star after star, with each just flying in Heart's general direction. They all kept missing him, but one managed to strike a nearby electric pole that toppled down and fell in front of one of Heart's paths, with its electric wiring firing off sparks violently. "HA! Totally planned that!" Her celebration was cut short as her UI flared red. She turned to where it was indicating and side-stepped out of the way of a mad dash. She snarled as Amber and Flynn ignored the after-images she had left behind and went straight for her. "Kit! Got any ideas for them?! I can't deal with Heart when I've got my hands tied up with _them_!"

"Actually, you just gave me an idea!" shouted Kit. Suddenly, Jady's UI directed her attention back to the downed electric pole. She glanced back briefly and saw that one of the electric cords was now highlighted in green.

Jady smirked beneath her helmet. "Lookit who's comin' up with ideas now!" With a running start, she furiously flung shuriken at the cord, with only one of them actually managing to slice a cord off. Making sure to fling some more at Heart, she let High Speed kick in and zoomed to the severed cord. She suddenly jumped up and let herself drift on her side, outstretching one hand to grab onto the cord, and using the other to help her turn back around and fling herself towards the two Roidmudes. Pushing herself back upright, she flung a star at the ground near them to kick up a dust cloud to leave them disoriented. Using this as her chance, she closed in and lassoed the cord around both of them. With a loud cry, she rapidly circled them again and again until both of them were tightly wrapped with the cord, effectively keeping them in place.

But rather than admire her handiwork, she used the last lap around them to fling herself towards where she had left Heart, who had gained a fair amount of ground by now. Jady raised her arm to fling another shuriken but flinched as she felt a sharp electric shock shoot through her arm. "The Shift Car is glitching!" Kit alerted her, "Quick! Swap it out for another!"

"Alright! UMMM..." she fumbled with the rack until she managed to grab onto a Shift Car. She pried it off as Midnight Shadow left her brace and reattached itself to its spot on the rack. Turning Kit's key again, she locked the jagged Shift Car into her brace and Shifted Up.

 **TIRE KOUKAN!**

Jady looked up as a green, spike-covered tire flew through the air before clamping around her chest.

 **FUNKY SPIKE!**

"Umm..." Jady looked back and forth between the tire and Heart, "What do I do with this?!"

"Try Shifting Up!"

"Good idea!" Turning Kit's key, she Shifted Up three times in a row.

 **SPI-SPI-SPIKE!**

She looked down again to see the tire rapidly spin around her chest. The spikes began to elongate before shooting out like needles. The needles managed to nick Heart's shoulders as he continued to run, with one eventually managing to topple him and allowing Jady to close the rest of the space between them. "HEEEAAAARRRRRRT!" Just as the Roidmude got back up, Jady slammed her front side into him. Though this sent sharp pains through her chest, the sight of new gashes in Heart's armor made her feel as though it was worth it. "See THAT?!" she gasped, resting one hand on a knee and the other over her chest, "You're not...getting away from us!"

Heart snarled as he clutched his own chest. "You...naysayers... ALWAYS the same... You _scorn_ at the ambitious souls, and do NOTHING but get in the way... Well no more... You will not deny everyone of their paradise...for ANY **LONGER**!" Jady flinched as an intense heat radiated from Heart's body. The Roidmude screamed at the top of his lungs as his body began to glow and even brighter shade of red. Jady's UI brought up readings all over the place.

"Jady-san! Heart's strength is rising again!" Kit warned, "And his heat is getting past what your suit can compensate for!"

"I noticed that!" Jady growled, panting heavily. She spread her arms out to her sides before shouting, "EAT THIS!" The tire on her chest began to spin again before it fired off a cluster of needles. However, before they could reach Heart, they disintegrated in midair and crumpled away to dust. The sight of this made Jady's heart sink.

"Jady-san! He's not stopping! His strength is still increasing-"

"Would you mind telling me something NEW?!" Jady snarled, feeling anxious, "Like maybe a plan to STOP HIM?!"

"I..." Kit paused, "Wait...THAT'S IT! Amber-san and I had a theory about Heart's power up! Because of all of the heat that's produced when he does this, it's leaving his armor weaker and making his core more vulnerable to damage!"

"Get to the POINT, KIT!"

"The last Shift Car!" Kit shouted, "Use the last Shift Car!"

"GOTCHA!" Without another word, Jady swiped the last remaining Shift Car off of her rack and knocked Funky Spike off of her brace. After turning Kit's key, she stuffed it into place and Shifted Up.

 **TIRE KOUKAN!**

She heard the tire whistle through the air before it came down and clamped onto her.

 **MAX FLARE!**

She didn't need to hear the name a second time to get what Kit was going for. Her hand shot right back down to turn Kit's key, then right back up again to Shift Up three times in a row.

 **FLA-FLA-FLARE!**

Jady rallied herself with a battle cry as she rushed forward with everything she had in her. She had to squint her eyes to keep herself focused on Heart, rather than the blazing heat her body was drowning in. And it only grew hotter as she felt her arm become engulfed in flames. She flexed her arm and clenched her blazing fist tightly as she closed in on the still screaming Roidmude. Jady matched his volume as she hurled her arm forward and RAMMED her fist right in the center of Heart's chest. The armor covering it gave way and allowed her entire fist to sink in with a sickening snap. Heart _retched_ and caved in from the blow. But rather than cease in his actions, he continued to fuel himself on, seemingly even faster than before. Jady cried out in pain as she felt intense burns wash over her entire arm. Before she could pull away, Heart grabbed onto both of her shoulders with a horrifyingly strong grip. Jady screeched as she tugged and pulled to try to get away, but Heart REFUSED to release her. Alarms blared in Jady's ears as her UI warned her of all of the breaches forming in her armor.

"JADY-SAN!"

"KIT!" Jady screamed, clenching her teeth to the point of near breakage, "KEEP GOING! SHIFT UP MORE!"

"BUT- "

"JUST DO IT!" With her free hand, she slammed her hand down on Kit's key and turned it.

"HAI!" Kit shouted back before he triggered a triple Shift Up.

 **FLA-FLA-FLARE!**

Jady turned her scream of agony into a cry for battle as the tire on her chest rapidly spun. Flames erupted from her trapped arm and spread over her body, causing blistering heat to assault her exposed areas. The ground beneath them began to glow a bright hot red around their feet, and the stoplights and buildings around them began to noticeably warp and sink under their own weight. The heat was so intense that the tears of pain coming from Jady's eyes evaporated before even leaving them. Then, with a bright flash and a loud bang, Jady was thrown onto her back by a sudden explosion. After hitting the ground, she noticed that her arm, along with several spots on her body, still felt as though hot metal was pressing against her skin. She raised her arm as it trembled and saw how severely melted her armor was.

"Jady-san, daijobu?!"

"I...can't...flex my arm... It hurts to move..." She heard her armor hiss as it tried to engage its cooling systems, but she did not feel her burns soothed as she so desperately desired.

"The cooling systems are still broken," Kit announced with regret, "ABUNAI!" Suddenly, the tire around her chest rapidly spun, and she was rolled away before Heart could land on her. Jady grunted as she bumped against something behind her. She clumsily clawed back up to her feet as Heart screamed and snarled with rage, swinging at the air blindly.

"Did...did it work?" Jady gasped. Her UI flared to life again as it scanned the Roidmude.

"Hai! Heart's armor is severely weakened! Only a couple more hits and it will be over, but his strength has risen to nearly immeasurable heights! And...Jady-san...your wounds..." Jady placed her hand over her chest, feeling something crack within it with each breath. "Jady-san...what should we do?"

Jady shook her head. "...I'll be honest...I don't got a whole lot left in me, but odds are we're not gonna get this chance again. Plus, I still wanna kick Heart in the face as much as I can before I go down. Got any ideas?"

"...One... But it's risky."

Jady huffed, standing up a bit more straight. "Since when has that ever stopped me?"

"I guess you have a point..." Jady could almost feel Kit smiling. "Ok, I'll focus all the armor's strength onto your foot. I'm bringing Mirage in now. Turn the key and follow my lead, Jady-san!" Feeling what was most likely her final spark of energy, Jady reached down with her good arm and turned Kit's key. "There's a button on the Shift Brace we never needed to use. Hit it!" As the belt revved up, Jady bit down on her tongue and flexed her burned arm to press the button on her brace.

 **HISSATSU!**

"Ikuze, Jady-san!" The belt began to rev with even greater intensity, and Jady felt sparks of energy run all the way down to her leg. Blood drained from her face as she saw Heart hurl a wave of heat straight at her. She grit her teeth as she forced herself into a mad dash, with each stomp of her foot making her feel as though needles were jabbing into each and every part of her body. But still, she pushed on as she bided her time to allow Mirage to catch up to them.

"Ganbatte, Jady-san!" Kit shouted encouragingly. But Jady wasn't sure how much longer she could take this. Each stomp of her foot sent shockwaves of pain through her body, and her wound was making it harder to breathe. "Shikkari shiro! Mirage is almost here!" Her heart leapt as she heard the car's engine through the chaos. But her joy was quickly replaced with fear as she saw another of Heart's heat waves rushing towards her. Thankfully, High Speed kicked in just in the nick of time. "Jady-san! Shift Up!" With the attack exploding just behind her, and Mirage emerging from the smoke, Jady Shifted Up one last time.

 **FULL THROTTLE!**

 **SPECIAL!**

"Now grab on!" She grabbed onto Mirage before it took a sudden turn. With everything it had, Mirage raced around Heart until it became nothing but a black blur. "Jady-san, jump in! IKE!" With a shout, Jady flung herself off of the vehicle and rocketed towards Heart. The Roidmude had no time to react as she drove her foot into his side. But as quick as she had come, she was gone again after ricocheting off of his body. And as she flew back, Mirage zoomed by and bounced her back, repeating the process again and again without fail. Jady was suddenly flung upwards as she ricocheted off of Heart's neck. Before she could be sent sailing through the air, jets fired off of Mirage, flinging it into the air to intercept her. She bounced off of it one last time as she and Kit uttered out a hearty roar.

Then, with a tremendous amount of force, Jady's foot SLAMMED into Heart's head, releasing all of the built up energy onto him in a single blow. And that energy proved too much for him, as the force of the blow rippled through his entire frame and tore it apart. A wild explosion ripped through the area as the Roidmude's body gave out, rocketing chunks of his armor through the air. And with them came Jady, who soared through the air before landing just in front of Mirage as it stopped in front of her.

" _NICE, DRIVE!_ " Kit shouted victoriously, "Roidmude Heart has been destroyed!" Having expected Jady to join in his enthusiasm, the AI was caught off guard when she instead fell to a knee with her shoulders heaving. "JADY-SAN!"

"Yeah," Jady huffed, "We did it... We really did it..." Her heavy breathing turned into soft laughter. She let her head hang back as she glanced at the time displayed at the corner of her UI. "Hey, would you look at that. It's about time for me to pass out." The last thing she heard was Kit's shouts of fear before she fell onto her back unconscious.


	5. Epilogue

Flynn eased a breath out through his nostrils as he turned Mirage down a corner. Both he and Amber were glad that the road was so clear, as they knew that would change within the next couple of days. "And then just keep going down this street, Flynn-san."

"Thank you, Kit."

"My pleasure, Amber-san."

The Labrador sat back in her seat with a smile. She let her gaze wander out the window, allowing her to watch a group of Roidmudes clear out the way for trapped furs from broken down buildings. "We've gotta hand it to our little girl," said Amber, "she did a good job. Not a single transformed civilian destroyed in all of that."

"Yeah," Flynn nodded, "She did good... She did good..."

A wider smile crossed Amber's muzzle. She looked over and rested her paw on the lion's shoulder. "I'm sure Jady would've loved to hear you say that..."

"Yeah...I'm sure she would've..."

"Take this turn, Flynn-san," said Kit, "right into that gate." The pair fell silent as they rode past the gates. Amber's gaze returned to the window as they drove by gravestone after gravestone. Neither felt the urge to say anything until Flynn pulled up to the parking lot and came to a stop in one of the spaces.

Amber clapped her paws together. "Well then...shall we go?" Flynn nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt, an action Amber quickly followed. But they stopped once they heard ringing from Mirage's speakers.

"Ah, matte kudasai. You have an incoming call."

"Go ahead and answer it, Kit," said Amber, "we're in no rush."

"Hai. Ikimasu." With a single beep, the call was answered.

"Hey guys, where are you?" came a very eager Jady, "I've been waiting here for like half an hour!"

"Yeah, we're coming, Jady," Amber answered her, "We just parked at the cemetery."

"The _cemetery_?! What're you doin' _there_?! What, did you think I was _dead already_?"

"We couldn't find parking at the hospital," Flynn explained, "There are already so many people there already so we had to improvise."

"Well hurry up then! I wanna see you guys in your normal bodies already! My last memories of you guys for the entire day have been of you attacking me as Roidmudes!"

"It can't be any worse of our memories of you knocked out cold with internal bleeding!" Amber laughed, "Just sit tight, okay? We're eager to see you again too."

"Okayyyyy. Don't keep me waiting for too long, alright?!"

"We won't once you finally hang up."

"Awww, I missed you _too_ , Flynn." The mountain lion grunted as Amber nudged his arm with an elbow.

"Okay, see you soon, Jady," Amber called.

"Jaa ne, Jady-san!" called Kit.

"See you soon, you guys!" Jady called back. And just like that, the call came to an end. Both furs let out sighs before turning to each other.

"Well then," said Amber, "Shall we get going?" Flynn gave her a firm nod.

"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can start helping other Roidmudes back into their original bodies."

Amber gave him a sly smile and nudged him again. "C'mon, Flynn. It's just us; you can tell us how excited you are to see Jady again."

Flynn huffed and turned away, allowing himself to hide his blush from the canine. "L-let's just get going already."

Amber laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay Kit, we're heading out. We'll call you once we get to Jady's room."

"Arigato gozaimasu. Thank you very much, Amber-san."

Amber smirked. "Saraba da, Kit-chan." With that, she closed the door and followed after Flynn, who had already gotten a bit of a lead on her.

"For the record," the mountain lion said once she caught up to him, "there's another reason I wanna get to her sooner."

Amber perked an ear. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Flynn stuffed his thumbs into his pockets and looked up at the sky. "...I wanted to thank her. Not just for saving us...but also for taking on the role of Drive in the first place. It's...the least I can say after she took on such a daunting task."

Amber smiled brightly and hooked an arm over his neck. "Well, well, _well_. Looks like our little Jady's got a surprise to look forward to. Let's not keep her waiting then."

END

* * *

Huge thanks to anyone that's read the whole way through. I understand that this was an INCREDIBLY LONG read. Even I didn't anticipate how long this story was gonna get. But I had a huge amount of fun writing this story, and I sincerely hope that everyone who read it had just as much fun with it. This is probably the most amount of effort I've ever put into a story, and it's only gonna get better from here. I appreciate any and all constructive feedback given, but above all else, I hope you enjoyed this fun little drive.


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